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Freedmen's Bureau's Field Office Records Headquarters Records How to Order Microfilm r i . Bureau Records of Related Interest a 7 N N W n e n . a 0 a o These previously filmed series include most records of the Bureau’s headquarters in • Online—Go to the National Archives Order Online system at www.archives.gov. a f t t 0 . s d o c i p h a r o h r P Washington, DC. The telegrams, letters, and orders sent, and the annual reports, sum- • Telephone—Credit card orders call toll free - - - ( - - in the i s i m n n Additional State Records n e o n a t o n g e c maries, and schedules received by the Commissioner’s office document the overall Washington, DC, metropolitan area), ..–: .. EST. Visa, MasterCard, American l a u n f d Records of many state Assistant Commissioners and superintendents of education were filmed t i t s a o n A a b i y administration of the Bureau. They contain only limited information about particular Express, and Discover are accepted. t n r l o e in previous years, and should be researched for more information on activities at the local level. l l t c , a a q h n v h x individuals at the local level. • Fax—Fax your order to - - . c a i u i p In addition to administrative letters, monthly summaries, and annual reports sent to D reedmen’s ureau k s v t n a F B C a h t e y • Mail—Mail checks or money orders to the National Archives Trust Fund, P.O. Box i e o f l s Washington, DC, these records also include reports, registers, and letters from subordinates a a r a e 2 r t d e 0 T m Selected Series of Records Issued by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, , Atlanta, GA - . Include daytime telephone number with order. y A that provide important details about circumstances and individuals in the localities. x 4 r . e v p u w 0 i e e x Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (M742, 7 rolls) s l 8 n n y t t e s - u e e a 0 Registers and Letters Received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, e s n . F ield ffice ecords They are available in the following M-numbered publications: 0 l F O R , t u t d 0 u n Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (M752, 74 rolls) Need more information about specific rolls? h 1 d s Records of Assistant Commissioners N d W o t i Records of the Education Division of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and View listings of roll contents and descriptions of the record series B e h Alabama (M, rolls) Mississippi (M, rolls) f o s a Abandoned Lands, 1865–1871 (M803, 35 rolls) • through the National Archives Order Online system at www.archives.gov or at the e d Arkansas (M, rolls) North Carolina (M, rolls) r d District of Columbia (M, rolls) South Carolina (M, rolls) start of each roll. Georgia (M, rolls) Tennessee (M, rolls) Where to View Microfilm • in the published descriptive pamphlets for each series, which are available by Field Office Records of the Bureau of Louisiana Texas (M, rolls) Copies of field office records microfilm are available for viewing at the National calling toll free - - - . Please identify the microfilm publication • Assistant Commissioner Virginia (M, rolls) Archives Building in Washington, DC, and at each of the agency’s regional ar- number (e.g., M ) and the specific roll number(s) you wish to order. Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (M1027, 37 rolls) chives. For locations and hours, visit www.archives.gov. (The Freedmen’s Bureau), ‒ • New Orleans Field Offices Labor Contract Between (M1483, 10 rolls) Prices Abraham Bledsoe and Henry Black-and-white microfilm is $ per roll for domestic orders and $ for foreign orders; Bledsoe (freedman), commenc- d Records of Superintendents of Education shipping and handling fees are included. ing January 19, 1866 Alabama (M, rolls) North Carolina (M, rolls) “I am to furnish . quarters, Emancipation left freed men, women, and children in desperate need of relief, medicine, Arkansas (M, rolls) Tennessee (M, rolls) fuel, substantial and healthy District of Columbia (M, rolls) Texas (M, rolls) rations, and the amount set housing, family, education, employment, and protection.The Freedmen’s Bureau’s field office records Georgia (M, rolls) Virginia (M, rolls) opposite His name, per month.” hold stories of their struggle and the unprecedented efforts to secure those needs. Louisiana (M, rolls) Kentucky, Office of the Assistant Commissioner, Other Records, Below: Land Order for Richard Brown, Labor Contracts, 1866 April 1, 1865 “ . permission is hereby granted to Richard Brown to take possession of and occupy forty acres of land, situated in St. Andrews Parish, Island of James.” South Carolina, Berkley District, Labor Contracts N U N . a o S t n . i p o P r n o o a s f l i t t A a O g “Colored Census,” Huntsville and Athens, Arkansas, ca. 1865 r c r e g h P . i v a Census of black residents at Huntsville and Athens, Arkansas, ca. 1865, listing name, e i s d age, sex, street, former owner, occupation, and county. Cover: Many freedmen found work in Alexandria, Arkansas, Huntsville and Athens (Claims Agent), Census of Black Citizens VA, near the coal wharf, ca. 1865 (111-B-400). Newly Available Field Office Records *NEW Now the field office records for Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, The recently filmed field office records of the Freedmen’s Bureau are organized by state. Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, The records are available in the following M-numbered National Archives microfilm Virginia, and the District of Columbia, totaling 657 cubic feet, have been filmed. Also avail- publications: able are the marriage records of Bureau headquarters, ‒, and the post-Bureau records Alabama (M, rolls) Missouri (M, rolls) created by the Freedmen’s Branch in the Adjutant General’s Office, ‒. Arkansas (M, rolls) North Carolina (M, rolls) Combined with the records of Bureau headquarters and of selected state Assistant District of Columbia (M, rolls) South Carolina (M, rolls) Commissioners and supervisors of education previously filmed, the wider availability of Florida (M, rolls) Tennessee (M, rolls) Hawkins Wilson to “Chief of the Freedmen’s Bureau, at Richmond,” VA, May 11, 1867 Georgia (M, rolls) Texas (M, rolls) The Freedmen’s Bureau which these named individuals struggled to establish families, train and these field office records enables researchers to take a closer look at the African American In the years following the Civil War, the Bureau of “I am anxious to learn about my sisters, from whom I have been separated many Kentucky (M, rolls) Virginia (M, rolls) educate themselves, and live in self-sufficiency and freedom. experience and the personal histories of individuals in that critical and unprecedented years__I have never heard from them since I left Virginia twenty four years ago__I am Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the period of social reconstruction. Louisiana (M, rolls) in hopes that they are still living and I am anxious to hear how they are getting on__” Freedmen’s Bureau) provided assistance to tens of Invaluable Records for Genealogists Maryland/Delaware (M, rolls) thousands of former slaves and impoverished Virginia, Bowling Green, Caroline County, Letters Received Mississippi Together, these records present the genealogist and social historian with an whites in the Southern States and the District of • Pre-Bureau Records, (M, rolls) cular letters sent; special orders issued by Commissioner O. O. Howard; annual reports to the unequaled wealth of information that extends the reach of black family studies. Documents such as Columbia. The war had liberated nearly four million slaves and destroyed the region’s cities, • Freedmen’s Bureau (M, rolls) President; records relating to appointments; and letters received by the Commissioner. There are local censuses, marriage records, and medical records provide freedpeople’s full names and former towns, and plantation-based economy. It left former slaves and many whites dislocated from summary reports and communications from the state Assistant Commissioners on relief efforts, masters; Federal censuses through listed slaves only statistically under the master’s household. their homes, facing starvation, and owning only the clothes they wore. The challenge of hospitals and vaccination programs, labor and land issues, legal issues, field office management, No name indexes are available at this time, but the documents can be rewarding, particularly since establishing a new social order, founded on freedom and racial equality, was enormous. *NEW and other activities, as well as school reports, schedules of schools, and rental accounts from state they provide full names, residences, and, often, the names of former masters and plantations. Marriage Records The Bureau was established in the War Department in March to undertake the relief Marriage Records of the Office of the Commissioner, Washington Headquarters of the Bureau of superintendents of education. Primarily official and statistical, these records can contain some These microfilm publications are part of a five-year, multiseries project made possible by effort and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freedpeople to full citi- Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, – (M, rolls) information on the work and experiences of particular persons at the local level. the United States Congress through The Freedmen’s Bureau Records Preservation Act of zenship. It issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate This microfilm series contains hundreds of marriage records of newly liberated African (Public Law -). The act authorized funds to preserve these records through family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employ- Americans in the post-Civil War era collected from through first by the Union State Records of Assistant Commissioners microfilm technology and to begin the process of indexing the records by universities and ment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confronta- Army and then the Freedmen’s Bureau in its field offices in the Southern States and the other institutions for more effective use by researchers.
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