The Freedmen's Bureau

In 1865 Congress created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, known as the Freedmen's Bureau, to provide for the needs of displaced and formerly enslaved persons. The Freedmen's Bureau provided humanitarian, educational, and legal services. It also supervised labor contracts and redistributed abandoned lands. Separately, Congress chartered the Freedman's Bank to encourage savings. Four African Americans elected to the House in the 19^th century––Representatives John Mercer Langston, Jeremiah Haralson, Josiah Walls, and Robert C. De Large—had worked for the Freedmen's Bureau.


Land order for Richard Brown, April 1, 1865 ( Charleston , South Carolina)	Labor contract between Abraham Bledsoe and Henry Bledsoe (freedman), commencing January 19, 1866 ( Maysville , Kentucky )	National Savings Bank, Vol. I, No. 1, Washington , D.C. , January 1, 1868 (publication of the Freedman's Savings and Trust)

Pass books from the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company for Ann Blue and Harrison Blue, Lexington , Kentucky , 1873	Freedman's Savings Bank, ca. 1890, James M. Goode Collection

E PLURIBUS UNUM —
OUT OF MANY, ONE

HISTORY OF CONGRESS
AND THE CAPITOL

The Freedmen's Bureau

E PLURIBUS UNUM — OUT OF MANY, ONE

HISTORY OF CONGRESS AND THE CAPITOL

The Freedmen's Bureau

E PLURIBUS UNUM —
OUT OF MANY, ONE

HISTORY OF CONGRESS
AND THE CAPITOL