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American Freedmen's Aid Commissions,
General Office,
444, Fourteenth Street,
Washington, D.C., Nov. 25, 1865.

[[stamp]]The National Archives of the United States[[/stamp]]

Circular No. 4.

In pursuance of the original design in the establishment of this office, notice is given that it is an office of general correspondence, at which may be accumulated, for the advantage of all correspondents, accurate and comprehensive information in regard to the history, present condition, and probable future of the Freedmen's aid movement, as a whole, and in its parts.

Correspondence is, therefore, invited from all sources of information, whether within or without the limits of the Commission; and all information gleaned from whatever source, will be at the command of those contributed to the common stock, subject only to modifications of obvious propriety.

This invitation is directed especially to,

I. All officers of the Commission, and its branches and auxiliaries.
II. All field agents, superintendents, teachers and other employees of the Commission, southward.
III. All assistant commissioners, officers, and agents of the Bureau of Freedmen's Affairs.
IV. All executive officers, agents, superintendents, teachers, and other employees of benevolent associations operating in aid of the Freedmen without formal connection with the Commission.
V. Independent laborers among the freed people.
VI. Friends of the Commission and of its beneficiaries, northward, and especially southward, whose observations and suggestions may be of value to executive officers.

The information, to be most valuable, should be concisely stated, and should be given with the most conscientious regard for precise accuracy. The repetition of error will hardly serve the purposes of truth. If the precise facts are not known, the conjecture should be given as conjecture only.