At the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, the General Assembly (PCUSA--Old School) appointed a Committee for Education of Freedmen, to establish churches and schools. At the 1870 reunion, this committee merged with the Freedmen's Department of the New School Committee of Home Missions; the new committee was named Committee of Missions for Freedmen. In 1883, the Freedmen's Committee was formally incorporated as the Board of Missions for Freedmen. The new board, like its predecessors, helped to educate and supply black teachers and preachers in the southern United States. It built and supported black schools, churches, colleges and seminaries and prescribed courses of study to be used. In 1923, the Freedmen's Board merged with other boards and agencies to become the Board of National Missions. Two units of the new board--the Unit of Schools and Hospitals and the Unit of Work for Colored People--took on the projects and responsibilities of the Freedmen's Board. However, the Freedmen's Board continued its legal existence as a holding corporation until 1972, when the Board of National Missions (now under the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.) was reorganized as the Program Agency.
From the description of Records, 1864-1972 (bulk, 1865-1938). (Presbyterian Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 48840792
