The Praise House Project opens at South-View Cemetery to honor the African-American History of Atlanta
On September 21st audiences gathered at South-View Cemetery to unveil The Praise House Project and to acknowledge the first Day of Remembrance of the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre. Established in 1886, South-View Cemetery was the nation’s first chartered African American burial ground. From Andrienne and Alonzo Herndon and Minnie and Luther J. Price, to John Wesley Dobbs and Geneva Haugabrooks, to the parents of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CT. Vivian, Hank Aaron and John Lewis, South-View Cemetery serves as the resting place for some of the nation’s most renowned civic and Civil Rights leaders in history.
The project uplifts the efforts of historic preservation by The South-View Foundation and its partners.
Image of the procession into the historic burial grounds of Atlanta’s first freedfolk, by Atlanta Photographer, Julie Yarbrough.
Audiences enjoyed performance by Edeliegba Senior Dance Ensemble within the historic buriel grounds, a porch performance by local musicians and an evening illumination of the Praise House.
The Praise House will remain on view through March 29, 2026, offering cultural programming, oral history recordings, and historic tours. Image by Julie Yarbrough.
The Praise House Project at South-View is presented in collaboration with the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre, the South-View Cemetery Foundation, Culture Centers International, and Focus Community Strategies, in partnership with the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the Imlay Foundation, the Homestead Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, ReBuildATL Coalition (Lifecycle Building Center, ReGen Community Advisory, Georgia Tech Center for Sustainable Communities) RCE Greater Atlanta, Atlanta Global Research & Education Collaborative (AGREC) and Emory Arts through funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Our Town Grant.
As the evening fell. the Praise House was illuminated with the history of the area. Image also by Julie Yarbrough.
