The Freedmen’s Bureau Project is helping African Americans reconnect with the Civil War-era ancestors. Join this project and help restore thousands of records.

Emancipation freed nearly 4 million slaves. The Freedmen’s Bureau was established to help transition them from slavery to citizenship, providing food, housing, education, and medical care. And for the first time in U.S. history, the names of those individuals were systematically recorded and preserved for future generations.

Discover Your Roots Using Freedmen’s Bureau Records

The Project:

To help bring thousands of records to light, the Freedmen’s Bureau Project was created as a set of partnerships between FamilySearch International and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro­-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the California African American Museum.

Tens of thousands of volunteers are needed to make these records searchable online. No specific time commitment is required, and anyone may participate. Volunteers simply log on, pull up as many scanned documents as they like, and enter the names and dates into the fields provided. Once published, information for millions of African Americans will be accessible, allowing families to build their family trees and connect with their ancestors.

Every name brings us closer to completing this project. The progress meter shows what percentage of the records we’ve indexed so far. But there’s still more work to do. See how you can get involved today to help millions discover their roots.

Presently, the Project is 45% complete- Volunteer Now