By Alex B. Leeman
In honor of Black History Month, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released today a searchable database documenting generations of African-Americans immediately following the Civil War.
The database, released on CD-ROM, is an index of the records of the Freedman''s Bank Savings and Trust Company, which was chartered by congress in 1865 to assist ex-slaves with their new financial responsibilities.
Church of Jesus Christ officials estimate that 8-10 million African-Americans living today may be able to find ancestors in the Freedman''s Bank records.
In the announcement this morning, Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ said, 'Linking the eternal family unit is one of the most important and sacred teachings for us in the Church. It is our hope that the Freedman''s Bank records CD will not only be a valuable resource for African-Americans, but also a way to once again link those families so long and tragically separated.'
The Freedman''s Bank was created to be a safe place for recently freed slaves to deposit money while they learned personal finance management skills. Tens of thousands of ex-slaves deposited more than $57 million in the bank.
The African-American community was later devastated when mismanagement and fraud caused the collapse of the Freeman''s Bank in 1974.
Over 100 years later, this dark chapter in African-American history is turning into a light.
In an effort to establish patrons'' identities, bank workers at the time recorded the names and family relationships of account holders. In some cases, even brief oral histories were recorded.
In 1989 Family and Church History Department employee, Marie Taylor, found the original microfilms of the bank''s records.
The microfilms had long been known to genealogical researchers, but little use had been made of the data because it lacked effective indexes.
'As I started to look at them, I noticed that it showed a person got a bank account and they were asked who their father and mother were, who their brothers and sisters were, who their spouse was and who their children were,' said Taylor. 'Here was three generations of African-Americans right after the Civil War.'
Taylor enlisted the help of Darius Gray, and together they began the lengthy process of extracting names from the records.
Shortly after beginning the project, Taylor and Gray also sought help from inmates at the Utah State Prison, South Point Correctional Facility, where the Church of Jesus Christ operates a Family History Center.
Eleven years later, 484,083 individual names have been uncovered and linked to families, many spanning three and four generations.
'These were real people, men and women who had little education, little money, and little anticipation of what the future would ultimately yield,' said Gray.
'The Freedman Bank records may be more than just historical records, it may be the Rosetta Stone, the piece that allows you to go in and make the connection,' said William Haley, son of Alex Haley, the late author of 'Roots.'
Haley expressed excitement that the Freedman''s Bank records can now help African-Americans trace their heritage.
'My father''s legacy is about family. The Church is about family,' Haley said. 'I think one of the cornerstones of that is to be able to come back to your essence, who you are, what makes you the people you are.'
Richard Turley, Managing Director of the Family History Department said many African-Americans researching their family history encounter a large blank as the reach the slave period.
The Freedman''s Bank records begin to bridge that gap.
'This can make the difference; this can open the door.' Gray said. 'It''s touched hearts; it''s changed lives.'