Glimpses at the Freedmen's Bureau. The Freedmen's Union Industrial School, Richmond, Virginia. In the United States, the terms freedmen and freedwomen refer to former slaves emancipated during and after the American Civil War, by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. To help freedmen transition from slavery to freedom, President Abraham Lincoln created the Freedmen's Bureau, which assigned agents throughout the former Confederate states. The Freedmen's Bureau helped African-Americans find family members from whom they had become separated during the war. The Bureau also founded schools to educate freedmen, both adults and children. Engraving by James E. Taylor for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 22, 1866. |