Atlanta History Center

Atlanta History Center
Location within Atlanta
Established 1926
Location 130 West Paces Ferry Road
Type History
Website Atlanta History Center

The Atlanta History Center (AHC) is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and currently consists of 6 permanent, and several temporary, exhibitions. The AHC campus is 33-acres and features historic gardens and houses located on the grounds, including Swan House, Tullie Smith Farm, and Wood Family Cabin. The AHC's research arm, the Kenan Research Center, includes 3.5 million resources and a reproduction of historian Franklin Garrett's (1906–2000) office. The AHC holds one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the United States.

Exhibitions

The Atlanta History Center operates three types of exhibitions - permanent, temporary, and traveling. The six permanent exhibitions include:

The Kenan Research Center includes 3.5 million resources and a reproduction of historian Franklin Garrett's office.

Historic House Museums

The Swan House at night

History

The Atlanta History Center was founded in 1926 as the Atlanta Historical Society (AHS). Initially, the society operated as an institution for historical discussion and appreciation but, by the next year, began publishing the Atlanta Historical Bulletin. The AHS was first led by Walter McElreath (1867–1951), an Atlanta lawyer, legislator, and author for whom the Center's McElreath Hall is named. The periodical was later named Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South; it was published until 2006.

In 1986 the still relatively small group received the DuBose Collection of Civil War artifacts, donated by Mrs. Beverly M. DuBose Jr. In 1989, the Atlanta Historical Society built the current museum to house the DuBose collection.

In 1990, the Atlanta Historical Society was renamed the Atlanta History Center. The 15 million dollar museum opened in 1993 with 5 exhibitions, including its first signature Atlanta history exhibition, Metropolitan Frontiers. An 11 million dollar expansion, finished in 1996, added two new permanent exhibitions, Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South and Turning Point: The American Civil War. The Kenan Research Center library was later expanded and the gardens reorganized, with a fourth permanent exhibition added, Down the Fairway with Bobby Jones. In 2006, the Centennial Olympic Museum was completed.[5]

In 2014, the city of Atlanta announced its intentions to relocate the Atlanta Cyclorama and its artifacts to the Atlanta History Center, including the antebellum Western & Atlantic locomotive, the Texas. The museum plans to construct an expansion to house the 360 degree panoramic painting of the Civil War, the Battle of Atlanta, as well as the Texas locomotive, and other pieces in the Cyclorama collection. The expanded history center is planned to be completed in 2018.[6]

Accessibility

Paved pathways through the historic gardens connect to the Swan House and the Tullie Smith Farm, but most paths are unpaved. Large-print books are available for a few exhibitions in the Atlanta History Museum and videos have subtitles. Maps are available in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlanta History Center.

Coordinates: 33°50′34″N 84°23′09″W / 33.84282°N 84.38573°W / 33.84282; -84.38573

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.