The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Superintendent of Education for the State of Texas, Series 3: Letters Received.
Additional resources including a list of Freedmen's Bureau staff in Texas are available on the Freedmen's Bureau Instructions Page.
Please help us transcribe these records to learn more about the lives of formerly enslaved men and women in Texas during the Reconstruction Era.
The registered letters received, November 1866–December 1870, are arranged in accordance with the order of entries in volumes 1 (14) and 2 (3) of the registers of letters received. Some earlier letters have no file numbers recorded on the outside flaps, but NARA has supplied the missing citations in brackets for the corresponding entries in the first register. This series also includes telegrams and narrative reports received from subassistant commissioners and teachers relating to activities of particular schools or educational conditions in general. Filed under "R" for 1868 are extracts of subassistant commissioners' reports pertaining to school matters that were forwarded to the Superintendent of Education by Assistant Commissioner Joseph J. Reynolds.