On Sunday, January 14th at 3 P.M., the Franklin Civil War Round Table will host noted Williamson County historian Rick Warwick who will present “The Freedmen’s Bureau in Williamson County.”

The U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, popularly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established in 1865 by Congress to assist former slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Bureau was intended to provide food, housing, medical help, schools and legal assistance to the newly freed population in the South. Rick Warwick has researched the original labor contracts signed by 476 former slaves in Williamson County and will be discussing the difficult “negotiations” experienced by these men, usually with their previous owners. Oftentimes these contracts were turned against the men giving the landowners great advantage.

Warwick is the historian for the Heritage Foundation and a retired Williamson County school teacher who has led in preservation efforts for decades in the Franklin area. His numerous books about Williamson County have been critically important in the documentation of the area’s history. He is also the editor of the Williamson County Historical Society Journal.

The event is free to the public. The Franklin Civil War Round Table is an educational program of Franklin’s Charge, and meets each month at Carnton Plantation's Fleming Center, 1345 Eastern Flank Circle. For more information, email fcwrt@yahoo.com, or visit http://www.franklinscharge.org/the-round-table.