Established by Congress (1865), the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company exemplified black thrift. It opened thirty-seven branches in seventeen states and the District of Columbia during its operation. It reported more than 70,000 depositors and total deposits of $57,000,000. Black churches, fraternal orders, and schools maintained accounts. Many blacks served as cashiers and on branch boards. But directors approved bad investments in Washington, DC real estate and New York interests devastated by the Panic of 1873. Congress closed the bank in 1874. Frederick Douglass was its last president. Half of the depositors received partial reimbursement; half lost everything.