[Genealogy-SIG] NEW GENEALOGICAL RESOURCE ON-LINE

[jotaito]

NEW RECORDS SOURCE COMING ON-LINE

The following information was reported in the Ancestry Daily News (11/13/2000; see the website:  http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=2906). 

Freedmen's Bureau Records Preservation Act Signed into Law 
On Monday, November 6, President Clinton signed into law the Freedmen's Bureau Records Preservation Act of 2000 (H.R. 5157, now Public Law No: 106-444). This law ensures preservation of the records of the Freedmen's Bureau.
 
Quoting from the legislation, 
In 1865, the Congress established in the War Department the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly referred to as the "Freedmen's Bureau," to supervise and manage all matters relating to refugees and freedmen, and to supervise abandoned and confiscated property.
 
The records of the Freedmen's Bureau are a vital source of information for historians and genealogists. These records contain a wide range of data about the African American experience during slavery and freedom, including in marriage records, labor contracts, government rations and back pay records, and indentured contracts for minors.
 
[Records of the Freedmen's Bureau] are maintained in Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. All of these records are originals and, because they are deteriorating, require immediate attention. These records are an important link for African Americans to their slave and African ancestors. Preserving the records of the Freedmen's Bureau is a high priority for millions of Americans interested in Civil War and post-Civil War era history.

The law calls for these valuable records to be microfilmed and indexed, and "making them more easily accessible to the public, including historians, genealogists, and students, and for any other purposes determined by the Archivist." 

Now, 2006, the first state, Virginia, plans to have their records available on-line by mid 2007, according to information reported on October 28, 2006.  Other southern states will soon be adding their records to the project.  These records will be the equivalent of Ellis Island's records being put up.  The project is being assisted by the Genealogical Society of Utah among others.  Over 200,000 images will be also be released from Virginia archives alone.  Combined with other documentary records and histories, Virginia will offer one of the largest sets of records to be found.

The availability of this information in digitized form, dating from the time of the Civil War until the closing of the Freemen's Bureau (there was one in nearly every southern state) will certainly be a breath of fresh air for those doing genealogical research in Black Heritage.  The release of this information will be a gold mine of information related to families that had suffered under slavery and their dispersion and property disposition.  Many disconnected families lines should be discovered and rejoined.  

Watch for it! 

I seem to remember seeing something about this being handled the same way Ancestry.com handled the digitized census data; i.e. the information would be put up on-line for FREE for about 30 days to allow genealogists to test the data.  I think I saw some data was already on-line (I cannot find the reference now) and that it would be open until November 30 which is why I am rushing to get this information out to members).  Some of you might want to check this out before it is no longer free.     
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jotaito