The Freedmen's Bureau Indexing began as an idea from our research surrounding our "Whispers from the Dust" presentations. The idea for the indexing began about two years ago. After numerous meetings, presentations, miles driven, phone calls, and inspiration, we were able to bring together the right organizations at the right time to develop and deliver what is now known officically as the Virginia Freedmen's Bureau Indexing project.

In August 2006, Roice Luke, Ph.D. from VCU and Darrell Walden, Ph.D. from UR, co-founders of the Virginia Freedmen Project, attended a pivotable meeting regarding the Freedmen's Bureau records at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, DC. In addition to Drs. Luke and Walden, those attending the meeting were the chief archivists from NARA in charge of African American records and representatives from the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) and Howard University (HU). The agenda for this meeting was the extraction and later indexing of information contained in the more than 1,100 linear feet of records associated with the Freedmen's Bureau records that were now microfilmed after almost five years of work. In order for the records to be most useful to genealogists and historians, the images must be digitized from the microfilm, information extracted to a data base, and indexed for electronic searches. The task is complex due to the amount of records and the complexity and dissimilarity of the records themselves.

Drs. Luke and Walden were instrumental in getting all parties to agree that the Virginia Freedmen's Bureau records would be the first to be extracted and indexed for a pilot project to be headed up by GSU and efforts spearheaded by the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia (BHM). One of the reasons had to do with the fact that Virginia was the last state to be microfilmed and should be first to be extracted and indexed. Virginia also is celebrating its 400th anniversary from the time that the first English settlers landed at Jamestown Virginia in 1607. Virginia also imported some of the first African slaves in the 1600s and Virginia became a large exporter of slaves throughout the South. Virgina is by no means the easiest of the twelve Freedmen's Bureau states since there are 203 rolls of microfilm to be digitized with about 1,500 images on each roll for a total of approximately 300,000 images. It is felt that approximately 30 percent of these images (about 90,000 images) have value to genealogists.

The BHM will spearhead the efforts to publicize and solicit volunteers for the Virginia Freedmen Bureau Indexing project. The BHM will be the Virginia coordinator for volunteer recruitment. The BHM will inform interested organizations and individuals about opportunities to participate in the indexing project. Interested organizations and individuals are invited to contact the BHM, at (804) 780-9093.

The GSU is the premier genealogical organization in the World and is associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and maintains FamilySearch.org. The GSU is and has been involved with extensive and complex extraction and indexing projects worldwide. However, representatives admitted in the August meeting that the Freedmen's Bureau extraction and indexing project will be the most complex to date. Briefly, digitized images will be made available from GSU to authorized users who will download extraction packets and work on extracting information from the images using proprietary software developed by the GSU. Once an extraction packet is complete, the authorized user will upload the extraction packet work back to GSU who will develop an ongoing database for indexing purposes.

The Virginia Freedmen Project will make available to the larger Virginia community information on family history and the importance of the Virginia Freedmen's Bureau and Freedman's Bank records. In the Freedmen's Bureau Indexing project, extractions will be done by volunteers identified in the community. Volunteers will be trained to become authorized users to extract the Virginia Freedmen's Bureau records.