Explore Georgia: Atlanta History Center

The 14 founders of the Atlanta History Center could not have envisioned their future impact when in 1926 they formed what was then known as the Atlanta Historical Society. Beginning as a group of civic-minded Atlantans – led by prominent attorney Walter McElreath and meeting in each other’s homes, collecting early manuscripts and photos, and publishing research bulletins to “arouse in the citizens and friends of Atlanta an interest in history” – it has turned into a primary source of Atlanta, regional and national history.

In 1990, the Historical Society and all its holdings became known as the Atlanta History Center. Today, the History Center is located on 33 acres in the heart of Atlanta’s Buckhead district and includes: one of the Southeast’s largest history museums; a research library and archives that annually serves more than 10,000 patrons; two historic houses illustrating over a century of Atlanta’s history; a two-acre midtown campus which houses the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum; and a series of gardens unique in both design and horticultural presentation in the metropolitan area.

The History Center’s growth was particularly dramatic during the 1990s. Inspired by the 1986 gift of the DuBose Collection, one of the nation’s premier assemblages of Civil War artifacts, the History Center launched a $15 million capital campaign in early 1989 to build and equip the Atlanta History Museum. By the time the museum opened in October 1993 with five award-winning exhibitions including Metropolitan Frontiers, the History Center had already embarked upon a second, $11 million capital campaign. Before the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta opened, the History Center had added two additional signature exhibitions – Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South and Turning Point: The American Civil War – built a 220-car parking deck and began planning for a library/archives expansion, a garden master plan and the opening of a fourth signature exhibition, Down the Fairway with Bobby Jones.

Atlanta History Center
130 West Paces Ferry Road NW
Atlanta Georgia, 30305-1366
Phone: 404-814-4000
http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com