The Freedmen and Southern Society Project, established in 1976 at the University of Maryland, produces a documentary history of emancipation during the Civil War and early Reconstruction (1861–1867) through firsthand voices of freed African‑Americans, former slaveholders, soldiers, civilians, and more.
The project’s signature output is the multi‑volume series Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867. Six volumes have already been published, with additional ones underway. These volumes offer comprehensive documentation—including over 50,000 transcribed documents—organized to reflect major themes such as the destruction of slavery, free labor, Black military experience, land and labor, and African‑American kinship.
Several companion volumes designed for general readers and classrooms have also been released, such as Free at Last, Families and Freedom, and Freedom’s Soldiers. Select original documents are available on the website alongside a chronology, staff information, and educational support.
