For many African Americans, emancipation from slavery meant transitioning from household slavery to paid domestic service. The Johnson-Prettyman family lived in this 1841 house for five generations, and during their ownership they transitioned from owning slaves to employing domestic servants. A circa 1890 photograph of the Prettyman House shows an African American domestic servant holding the family's baby. These servants often lived with their employers or walked from their residences in Haiti or Middle Lane. The meager but steady income of domestic service started many African American families on the long road to home ownership, financial self-sufficiency, and access to education.
