The Freedman's Saving and Trust Company, known as the Freedman's Savings Bank, was a private savings bank chartered by the U.S. Congress on March 3, 1865, to collect deposits from the newly emancipated communities. The bank opened 37 branches across 17 states and Washington DC within 7 years and collected funds from over 67,000 depositors. At the height of its success, the Freedman's Savings Bank held assets worth more than $3.7 million in 1872 dollars, which translates to approximately $80 million in 2021. However, the rapid development of the bank was largely driven by false claims and was coupled with mismanagement and fraud. The bank failed in 1874, weighed down by speculative loans issued by the bank's white officials throughout its existence. Historians believe that the bank's failure not only destroyed the savings of many African Americans, but also their trust in financial institutions. The site where the bank's headquarters once stood was later occupied by the Treasury Annex. The Annex was renamed the Freedman's Bank Building in 2016. Establishment At the end of the American Civil War, the poor economic conditions of the formerly enslaved freedmen were aggravated by the economic devastation of the Southern states. The newly freed Blacks had few economic resources or capital and even less exposure to private enterprise. Many soon turned to sharecropping and forced labor in the South. To help alleviate their socio-economic conditions, the Republican-controlled U. S. Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau, passing an act of incorporation and a charter for the Freedman's Saving and Trust Company, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1865 (13 Stat. 510). The founder of the Freedman's Savings Bank, John W. Alvord, was inspired by the success of existing military savings banks. These military banks were created during the Civil War to collect the wages of Black soldiers. General Rufus Saxton established the first one in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1864. Other examples include a bank in Norfolk, Virginia, established by General Benjamin Butler in late 1864, and a bank in Louisiana created by General Nathaniel Banks. Many former slaves were liberated by the Union Army and were paid to join the army. Troops earned a little cash from their enrollment and participation, and the Freedman's Bank became the first banking entity to include them. Most accounts held between $5 and $50. From 1865 to 1868, the expansion of the Freedman's