Texas, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1870

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau) was created in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War to supervise relief efforts including education, health care, food and clothing, refugee camps, legalization of marriages, employment, labor contracts, and securing back pay, bounty payments and pensions. These records consist of bound volumes and unbound records, including letters received and endorsements, monthly school reports, and other records relating to freedmen's complaints and contracts. This collection corresponds to NARA microfilm publication M1912, Records of the Field Offices for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870.