Atlanta
History Center

Atlanta History Center Holds the Story of Atlanta

The Atlanta History Center has been called the cultural record of Atlanta and The South. Frankly, this is an experience you could never have outside Atlanta. The history center is one-of-a-kind. Plan to walk. The grounds are lovely and welcoming. The variety of exhibits is astonishing. It’s located in the heart of tony Buckhead, near the Governor’s Mansion. Prepare to be delighted.

The High Life

Swan House, with classical columns supporting its porte cochere, a perfectly designed curving concrete staircase, gracious rooms, and terraced lawns and waterfalls gives you a peek at what it was like to be among the Southern upper crust in the early 1900s.

Tours of the house are scheduled throughout the day. Check tour times when you arrive to plan your path.

Life as a Georgia Farmer

Tullie Smith Farm reveals the rustic simplicity of a Georgia farmer’s home. Surrounding the house is a separate open-air kitchen, blacksmith shop, smokehouse, double corncrib, pioneer log cabin and barn. There are vegetable, herb and flower gardens.

Costumed interpreters lead tours of the house. They perform typical 19th century farm tasks to illustrate the hard-working, simple life of the time.

Tours of the house are scheduled throughout the day. Check tour times when you arrive to plan your path.

Gardens and Grounds

The Atlanta History Center boasts 33 acres of beautiful woodlands and gardens. Picturesque as they are, they exist not only for their beauty, but for the stories they tell of the people who shaped history on the land.

Interpretive signs describe the use of various plants for food, medicine, clothing, shelter and ornamentation.

The variations speak for themselves: quarry garden, farm garden, Asian-American garden, woods, trail, and rhododendron garden.

The American Civil War

The most critical conflict in American history gets full examination here. The Atlanta History Center holds the largest, most comprehensive collection of Civil War artifacts in the world.

You will be in the presence of more than 1,500 original artifacts – supported by photographs, dioramas, videos, and interactive exhibits.

Highlights include Atlanta’s Confederate flag (flown just prior to surrender), a Union supply wagon used by Sherman’s army, General Patrick Cleburne’s sword, Medal of Honor worn by a member of the U.S. Colored Troops, medical equipment and firearms.

The Centennial Olympic Games Museum

For 17 days, Atlanta was the focus of the entire world. The 1996 Centennial Olympic Games changed Atlanta forever and accelerated its transformation from southern capital to international city.

Capture the Olympic spirit in one of the world’s most significant exhibitions on Olympic sport and history featuring artifacts, photographs, multimedia presentations, interactive displays, and America’s only complete collection of Olympic torches and medals.

Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South

Through the generations utility combined with inspiration have created art from everyday life. In the music we sing, the stories we share, and the tools and furnishings we create, we define who we are as individuals and as a community.

Trace the unique and evolving character of Southern folk culture through handcrafted pottery, woodwork, basketry, weaving, quilting, and metalwork. Also, visitors hear folk storytelling, singing, and instrumental music.

Voices Across the Color Line: The Atlanta Student Movement

March 15-Sept. 25, 2010 — Included with CityPASS

Through photographs, documents, videos, and contemporary oral history interviews with Atlanta student leaders, Voices Across the Color Line commemorates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Atlanta Student Movement. The exhibition celebrates the contributions of the individuals whose bravery, perseverance, and commitment to equality changed the city of Atlanta and our nation.

War in Our Backyards: Discovering Atlanta

August 7, 2010-Oct. 1, 2011 — Included with CityPASS

Challenges visitors to consider their personal connections to a war that was literally fought in all of our backyards. Although the battlefields around Atlanta are gone, there are visible connections hiding in plain view: historic artifacts, dug relics, maps, photographs, monuments, and the Cyclorama, which is one of the world’s largest Civil War paintings.

Peachtree Creek Battlefield 1864

With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition

Sept. 4-Nov. 7, 2010 — Included with CityPASS

Honor the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The Atlanta History Center is the only venue in the South to host this traveling exhibition organized by the Library of Congress that celebrates the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth and traces his growth from prairie lawyer to preeminent statesman.

Native Lands: Indians and Georgia

On display through 2010 — Included with CityPASS

Long before the first Europeans set foot in what is now Georgia, Mississippian Indians lived here and thrived. They had complex societies – that incorporated agriculture and trade industries with art, music and ceremony.

This remarkable traveling exhibition explores Indian’s recent history and their continuing connections to Georgia. These relationships are expressed in the voices of present-day Creeks and Cherokees.