the Freedman's Bank and the loss of their savings led to a distrust of all banking institutions for several generations among the Black community. Depositors’ losses Just after the collapse, in July 1874, three commissioners were appointed to wind down the bank. They found that the value of assets was lower than registered in the bank books; liquid assets, cash, and government securities amounted to less than 2% of the bank's total liabilities. Many depositors never received their deposits back. To repay them, the commissioners decided to rely on personal passbooks only, instead of the central bank books. Depositors needed to mail their passbooks to Washington to submit their claim. Many depositors, who had lost faith in the bank, were reluctant to do so. Others faced legal challenges in proving their identities or their relationship to depositors who had died. Some who did receive checks did not cash them, not understanding their use. The repayments came late, leaving cash-poor depositors stranded. Not until November 1875 did the bank start payouts. The commissioners, even in the face of many special requests from depositors for small immediate payments, instructed cashiers to withhold all money, even for cases of extreme necessity. In response, some depositors who had lost faith in the bank and were in dire need, sought to sell their claims against the bank at a discount. Some even sold their passbooks to shopkeepers in exchange for groceries and other supplies. On many occasions, steep discounts were enforced on the claims of depositors. For example, in 1881 an account holder at the New Orleans branch settled his $352 deposit for just $28.16. On the first payout announcement, only 49% of eligible depositors requested a payment, and bank statistics showed that these were largely claims from the wealthier depositors. Small account holders collected little to no funds. The delayed payments as well as the limited share of depositors receiving them suggest that, on average, depositors received far less than 62% of their deposits. Archives The surviving documentation and papers of the bank archives illuminate the names, whereabouts and other relevant information about the veterans of the 7th Regiment United States Colored Troops and their transactions with the bank. The data is considered historically important in the study of African American history. The bank's records of 480,000 names, estimated to be the largest single repository of lineage-linked African American records, has been indexed by