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1968: Kerner Commission Documents a Divided Society
1942: Detroit Rebellion an Omen of Deadly Riots
1988: Debi Thomas Medals at Winter Olympics
1870: Political Deal Brings End to Reconstruction
1870: Hiram Revels Becomes First Black U.S. Senator
February 7, 1862
Freedman's Aid Society Established in Boston
On this date in 1862, the New England Freedman's Aid Society was founded in Boston to assist free blacks, including former slaves. for the purpose of assisting former slaves and free blacks. The Society provided schooling and other services until it was dissolved in 1874. (In some ways, the purpose of the Society was overtaken by the federal Freedman's Bureau -- officially, the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands -- which was organized by the U.S. government at the start of Reconstruction in 1865.)