The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.
Registers and letters received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865 - 1871
Amount:
74 microfilm reels
Medium Included:
Microfilm.
Organization/Arrangement:
Chronological.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in the War Department by an act of March 3, 1865 (13 Stat. 507). Congress assigned to the bureau responsibilities previously shared by military commanders and by agents of the Treasury Department. They included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees and freedmen and the custody of all abandoned or confiscated lands and property. The act also provided that the bureau be headed by a commissioner, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The bureau's operations were confined principally to the former Confederate States, the Border States, and the District of Columbia. The 1865 act authorized the appointment of assistant commissioners to aid the commissioner in supervising the work of the bureau in the states.
During the years of its greatest activity, the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau resembled, in many ways, the work of later federal social agencies. In addition to supervising the disposition of abandoned or confiscated lands and property, bureau officers issued rations, clothing, and medicine to destitute refugees and freedmen. They established hospitals and dispensaries and supervised tenements and camps for the homeless. Bureau officers and members of benevolent organizations cooperated in establishing schools, operating employment offices, and dispensing relief. In March 1866, the bureau assumed the function of helping black soldiers and sailors to file and collect claims for bounties, pensions, and pay arrearages.
Summary:
This microfilm series contains 33 volumes of registers and indexes and the related unbound letters received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, relating to all phases of the bureau's activities. The records include the registers of letters received, the indexes to the registers, and the letters themselves.
Two consolidated indexes, a general name index and a general subject index, are filmed on roll 1 of this microfilm publication. The general name index covers registers 1-12 and A-H of register 13; the general subject index covers registers 1-13. In the latter index, the subject is entered alphabetically by initial letter. Also reproduced are separate name and subject indexes to many of the registers. Neither kind of index exists for entries A-M in registers 4 and 5. Some of the indexes are bound in the registers and others are bound as separate volumes. On each roll the index has been filmed before the register to which it relates.
Finding Aids:
Microfilm listing and container listing available. The container listing may also be found in the National Archives Microfilm Publication "Black Studies." 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Originals held by the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) Florida. Freedmen Florida Civil rights Florida Freedmen United States
for detailed listing.