Existing comment:
Rockville's African American Heritage Walking Tour Site #6
Prettyman House
104 West Jefferson Street
For many African Americans emancipation from slavery meant transitioning from a household slave to a paid domestic servant.
The Johnson-Prettyman family lived in this 1841 house for five generations. During their ownership they transitioned from owning slaves to employing domestic servants. This c. 1890 photograph of the Prettyman House shows an African American domestic servant holding the family's baby.
Often these servants lived with their employers or walked from their residences in Haiti or Middle Lane. The meager but steady income of domestic servants started many African American families on the long road to home ownership, financial self-sufficiency, and access to education. |