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Contribution #178 of 365
Freedman's Savings and Trust Company
Post-Emancipation Savings Institution
1865
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Congress incorporated the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company in 1865 to receive deposits from formerly enslaved people, Black soldiers and their families. The institution accumulated millions of dollars in deposits, but speculative lending and mismanagement by its officials led to its collapse in 1874 and caused devastating losses for many Black depositors.