Board of Zoning Adjustment - Regular Meeting

Designating properties like this at this time I think is very important because there are efforts afoot to undermine the value of African American history and culture in the country. We need to be then on the front lines of making sure that black history and culture are preserved in the city of Atlanta.

New Hope AME Church is one of the last remaining locations of many lost black communities in Atlanta's prestigious Buckhead area, a section of the city that was heavily developed and then gentrified in the decades following World War I.

New Hope AME Church was formally founded in 1869. However, we know that enslaved folks were worshiping in this area prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. In freedom during Reconstruction in 1869, they formed what was called the Camp Meeting, which was basically an outdoor revival. They didn't have an actual tabernacle at the time, so they were bending the trees to create a natural space to house those revival activities.

It's called the Worship in the Hush Harbor. And in that meeting, they were there for 15 days to celebrate and worship God. What we do, we don't celebrate for 14 days all together, but we have a special day in August, New Hope's 157th church homecoming.

So this is an antebellum congregational church that has two areas, two cemeteries, in which are buried the remains of formerly enslaved African Americans. Obviously, we just don't come across this every day. But for me, it's more than just a building. It's about people. It's about ways of living. It's about cultural expressions. You know, preserving buildings is one part of it, but preserving the legacy of human beings is another part. Thank you for all that you did, you and your congregation do, to preserve this amazing structure and its property. And we'd like to present you with these plaques.

but also shows the younger generations behind us now that your church and the grounds have been preserved into perpetuity.

I hope Atlantans understand that African American history is throughout the city, right? It's in certain pockets that we're familiar with, like the Atlanta University Center, it's in spaces like Auburn Avenue, but it's also all the way out here in North Atlanta.

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