Justene Hill Edwards on the Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank

In this month's episode Justene Hill Edwards leads listeners on a deep dive into the rise and fall of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, also known as the Freedman's Bank. Among the topics explored are the bank's relationship to the similarly named Freedman's Bureau, the ways the bank's administrators worked to gain African Americans' trust, and, notably, how these same administrators betrayed African Americans' trust by squandering, and, at times, outright stealing their savings to fuel their own risky ventures with longterm consequences for the racial wealth gap and African Americans' relationship with American capitalism.

You can listen to Justene Hill Edwards on the Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Justene Hill Edwards on the Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank is an episode from Who Makes Cents?: A History of Capitalism Podcast by Jessica Levy.

This episode is 41:45 long.

This episode was published on Mar 5, 2025.

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