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GSEP Indexes Over 2,000 Records for The Freedmen Bureau Project


Beginning in the fall of 2015, GSEP students, faculty and staff have regularly gotten together to index records for The Freedmen’s Bureau Project. The Freedmen's Bureau was formed by an Act of Congress on March 3, 1865, to assist newly freed slaves and poor whites who had been left in need by the Civil War. In a joint effort, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, and the California African American Museum, together with Family Search, the genealogical arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, digitized 1.5 million handwritten records containing 4 million names from the Freedman’s Bureau. Once indexed, these records will allow anyone to research their past.

Pepperdine’s initial goal was to index 500 records. To date, we have indexed more than 2,000 – well above and beyond, and there are more to come! We will continue to serve this initiative until the national deadline of May 31st, while fulfilling the university’s mission of strengthening lives for purpose, service and leadership.  

Join us! Click on the links below for more information.

Freedmen’s Bureau Project:

http://www.discoverfreedmen.org/

Register to index and download software here:

https://familysearch.org/