Thread by @TranscribeSI

Thanks to the incredible efforts of #volunpeers we have officially transcribed over 100,000 pages of Freedmen's Bureau records from @NMAAHC!

Join us all week as we explore the impact of this tremendous milestone on historical and genealogical research with #DiscoverTCFreedmen.

Created by the U.S. govt. in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau aided over 4 million newly freed African Americans and oversaw the political/social reconstruction of the south-reuniting loved ones, settling labor and land disputes, establishing schools, and more. nmaahc.si.edu/explore/initia…

The records produced by the Bureau represent a rich, unparalleled resource for understanding the African American experience pre-1870, providing some of the earliest documentation of the names and experiences of enslaved individuals. s.si.edu/311nUSC

#DiscoverTCFreedmen

In 2015 we joined @NMAAHC, @USNatArchives, and @FamilySearch in a multi-phased project to improve access to this important collection- indexing individual names included in Freedmen's Bureau records and transcribing all 1.5 million + pages w #volunpeers.

Now, 5 years later, the names are fully indexed @ discoverfreedmen.org, and more than 100K pages of Freedmen’s Bureau records from GA, MS, NC, and DC are fully transcribed and keyword searchable in the Transcription Center.

#DiscoverTCFreedmen --> s.si.edu/311hW3Y.

Included in transcribed Freedmen's Bureau records:

🗳️ 523 documents re: African American suffrage
🍎 18K + pages on education
⚖️ 2K + court case files
💌 3K + records re: marriages and families
📜 5K + govt circulars
and more

#DiscoverTCFreedmen

s.si.edu/3iRMDPo

These pages provide an extraordinary view into the lived experience of Reconstruction, now more easily understood through #volunpeer transcription. Explore all 100K+ documents by heading to the "Freedmen's Bureau" projects tab or by searching across all completed pages in TC ⬇️.

From mundane admin documents, to extraordinary stories of perseverance, transcription of Freedmen's Bureau records has revealed the intricacies of the past.

This 1866 report lists freedmen and women issued marriage certificates in DC: s.si.edu/3aANVLH #DiscoverTCFreedmen

Further info ⬇️ about William Hicks and Philis Ann Douglas notes their 8 children were "scattered abroad on account of slavery they know not where." Forced separation of families under slavery was a devastating reality and locating loved ones was a top priority after emancipation

@NMAAHC Freedmen's Bureau agents throughout the south, assisted African Americans in finding lost family members. This register from NC in 1867 includes requests of various individuals searching for loved ones -> s.si.edu/3kYN0JM.

#DiscoverTCFreedmen

Reconstruction signaled a new era of racial violence and intimidation against Blacks. In 1866 NC, Elsie Vaughn's son was taken, “bound out by Baker, her former master" w/out her consent. She fought back, gathering witnesses and filing claims w the Bureau - s.si.edu/34fVia0

Many early suffragists began their advocacy efforts in the abolitionist movement and later assisted the Freedmen's Bureau. The work of 2 such women, Sojourner Truth and Josephine Griffing, can be found in transcribed Bureau records.

#DiscoverTCFreedmen #19SuffrageStories

Escaping enslavement in 1827, leading abolitionist Sojourner Truth championed equal rights for all - including the right of men and women to vote. After the Civil War she worked for the Freedmen's Bureau, helping Black southerners build new lives.

s.si.edu/34i8ag7

Josephine Sophia White Griffing lectured throughout the US against the evils of slavery, opened her home as a stop on the Underground RR, and lobbied Congress for the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau. Once established, she served as a Bureau agent in DC.

s.si.edu/2EaJ5cb

Truth and Griffing were also active in the fight for women's suffrage, believing African American rights and women's rights should be coupled in legislation.

Learn more about Sojourner Truth from @NMAAHC .

#19SuffrageStories #DiscoverTCFreedmen

Individuals searching for African American ancestors often cannot locate information prior to 1870 and emancipation. This is so common it's known in genealogy as "the 1870 brick wall." Transcription of Freedmen's Bureau records will help break through it.
familysearch.org/blog/en/breaki…

Exploring Freedmen's Bureau records from Virginia, one of our very own colleagues finally located her 2nd great-grandfather, Joseph Cralle in a land "lease." Learn more about the significance of this discovery ⬇️. #DiscoverTCFreedmen