The Freedmen's Aid Society was founded in 1861 during the American Civil War by the American Missionary Association, a group supported chiefly by the Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist churches in the North. It organized a supply of teachers from the North and provided housing for them, to set up and teach in schools in the South for freedmen and their children.

On December 11, 1863, a committee comprised of seven members was organized at a meeting held at Mechanic Hall in Salem, Massachusetts, to aid the suffering freedmen in the Mississippi Valley. Headquarters were established at 149 Essex Street, where donations of clothing could be received. The headquarters of the committee was closed on December 31, 1863, and the treasurer was authorized to liquidate all outstanding debts. No formal report of the results of solicitation appears in the collection although there is a handwritten (undated) draft of a report of activities, occasioned by the visit of Rev. Thomas Machin to the city to solicit aid for the same cause on January 7, 1863.

This committee appears to be a forerunner of the Salem Freedmen's Aid Society, which was formed at a meeting held at Creamer Hall on September 23, 1864, at which Professor Alpheus Crosby was chosen chairman. A constitution was prepared, the stated object of the Society being "to assist the New England Freedmen's Aid Society in fitting the emancipated slaves for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship." Any person could become a member of the Society on an annual payment of one dollar. Officers included a President, five Vice Presidents, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of twelve people, who together with the officers, constituted a Board of Managers. A schedule of meetings was established. Reports of annual meetings were published in a Salem newspaper.

In 1866 Peter L. Walker was adopted by the society as a teacher at the school in Belton, South Carolina, his salary to be paid for two months from the treasury. The society also supported schools in Aiken, South Carolina, and Williamston, South Carolina. Major William Stone, an officer of the Freedmen's Bureau stationed in South Carolina, recommended employing "native" Southern teachers rather than Northern teachers. The collection includes letter from Major Stone and Mr. Walker, the "native" southern teacher of the Belton, South Carolina, school, reporting on progress at the school. In addition to his salary, the society provided books, clothing, and other necessary supplies to the freedman.

At the annual meeting on April 7, 1870, a discussion took place as to the expediency of further continuing the existence of the society. It was voted that the society be dissolved and a committee of seven be appointed to continue the work of the society. On November 12, 1873, it was decided not to undertake further work because of a hard winter and the fact that the school was now under the direction of a "colored" teacher.