Project Overview
Freedmen’s Bureau Project
Through enhanced access to original documents, this interactive explores the records that document how agents of the bureau assisted freepersons from 1865 to 1872.
Installed in the Public Vault, “We the People,” this interactive lets the documents tell the story of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands—also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Visitors can select records grouped according to states or themes including labor, marriage, education, and land. TheEnhanced Record Viewer” lets visitors review every detail of the documents, turn pages, transcribe handwriting, and reveal interpretive hot spots that explain important elements and passages.