Historic Praise House opens Juneteenth in Decatur

DECATUR, Ga. — A piece of African American history, known as the Praise House, has been moved to the heart of Decatur.

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Along West Trinity Place in downtown Decatur, it’s a call to worship from inside the Praise House.

“Praise houses began on plantations,” historian Dr. Candy Tate said.

Tate says the houses were built by enslaved people as safe, and often secret, places to gather for God. 

“At emancipation, they were relocated from where we were enslaved to where we were free,” Praise House artist and caretaker Charmaine Minniefield said.

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This Praise House was brought from Emory University to a section of Decatur known as a Freedman’s town. A place later called The Bottom, where newly freed people settled after the Civil War. 

The Praise House is now open to the public on of all days---this day. 

“Juneteenth. What other holiday should we have something like this,” Tedra Eberhart-Lee said.

Eberhart-Lee was part of the group that helped bring the Praise House to Decatur. They say there is a story to tell.

“We have memories,” Vivien Usher said. 

Usher says they have been passed down for generations, and it’s time to retell the tale.

“For it to sit in downtown Decatur and be present in what was once a Freedman’s Town, and that legacy that has remained in this community ever since, you can feel the energy of freedom and that hopefulness,” Charmaine said.

The Praise House will remain in Decatur through September.

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IN OTHER NEWS:

Channel 2 Action News gets a tour of museum at the place where Juneteenth started

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