Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal Training

This workshop is an introduction to the Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal created by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, conducted by Hollis Gentry Brown, Information Specialist (Genealogy), Strategic Initiatives and Programs, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, and Kamilah Stinnett, Museum Specialist. The United States Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was created by Congress in 1865 to assist in the political and social reconstruction of post-war Southern states and to help formerly enslaved people make the transition from slavery to freedom and citizenship. In the process, the Bureau created millions of records that contain the names of hundreds of thousands of formerly enslaved people and Southern white refugees. Community members will learn how to research their ancestors in the Freedmen’s Bureau records and be able to conduct searches in real time. This comprehensive search platform is designed to help family historians and genealogists find their ancestors and to assist scholars and students in researching various topics found in more than 1.7 million pages of Freedmen’s Bureau records. About the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor: The Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor is a nationally and internationally recognized Buffalo neighborhood that serves as the focal point of residents’ and visitors’ experiences for learning about Buffalo’s rich African American history through its vibrant neighborhoods, shops, restaurants, unique structures, historical markers, people and institutions, as well as its significant impact on local, national and international history. As an advocate for the community, the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission endeavors to integrate African American cultural significance and impact on Buffalo’s history through public engagement, community education that will invigorate, inspire and enliven cultural appreciation, preservation and community development. About the SI-NMAAHC Smith Center: The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (SI-NMAAHC) Robert Frederick Smith (RFS) Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History uses an innovative approach to technology to preserve African American history, through four related initiatives: the Explore Your Family History Center (FHC), the Community Curation Program (CCP), the Great Migration Home Movie Project (GMHMP), and the Internships and Fellowships Program (IFP). Through each component, the Museum seeks to expand access to African American history and cultivate broad interest in America’s Black past, genealogy, and culture. Through the Community Curation Program, the Smith Center collaborates with cultural heritage sites, libraries, archives, historical societies, and HBCUs to preserve historical materials and make them more accessible, supporting these institutions’ sustainability and demonstrating their relevance to a broader and deeper understanding of human experience. We seek out community-based archives and work with them to create digital spaces and resources that tell the stories of historically Black neighborhoods and institutional anchors such as churches, schools, and Black-owned businesses, to facilitate inspiring, social justice-centered educational experiences for museum audiences. Ongoing digitization, preservation and education projects and relationships with both rural and urban African American communities amplify the experiences and perspectives of groups that have been underrepresented in museums, not only in terms of documenting and narrating the stories of institutions, communities, and individuals of people of African descent, but also as professionals working in museum spaces, so that descendant communities can impactfully and thoughtfully engage with their own histories.

Event Links

Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3649683-0

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3649683-2

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