Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank
By Justene Hill Edwards
W.W. Norton & Co., 2024

The Freedman’s Bank was the first personal banking institution to serve formerly enslaved African Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War. Established by Congress in 1865, it collapsed after nine years, squandering over $2 million ($77 million today) of depositors’ money along with their path to prosperity. How that happened left a legacy which rippled definingly through the Reconstruction era to the present, providing critical context to current debates and a new lens through which to view the story of American capitalism.

About the Author
Justene Hill Edwards lives in Charlottesville, where she serves as an Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia and researches the intersection of capitalism and African American history. Edwards studied at Swarthmore and Princeton, where she earned her PhD.

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