Atlanta History Center

The Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and has a large campus featuring historic gardens and houses, including Swan House, Smith Farm, and Wood Family Cabin. Atlanta History Center's Midtown Campus includes the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum. Atlanta History Center holds one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the United States.Template:Citation needed

History

The Atlanta History Center was founded and chartered in 1926 as the Atlanta Historical Society by Walter McElreath.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Heller">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The vice president was Joel Hunter, and the secretary-treasurer was Ruth Blair, then the Georgia state archivist.<ref name="Noland">Template:Cite news (Includes photo of Ruth Blair with Mayor Hartsfield and Franklin Garrett)</ref> Its stated purpose was to preserve historical sources relating to Atlanta, study Atlanta's history, and promote historical interest in Atlanta.<ref name="Heller" /> The organization met occasionally in member's homes, collected dues, and began a small collection of historical items.<ref name=":0" /> It began to intermittently publish Atlanta Historical Bulletin in 1927,<ref name="Heller" /><ref name="NGE">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> of which the last edition was published in 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The first meetings not held in private homes occurred A. G. Rhodes estate offered them rooms and storage space in its castle around 1929.<ref name="Heller" /> The organization was reorganized in 1936, and Ruth Blair was hired as a full-time executive secretary.<ref name=":0" /> Enough money was raised to rent a ground floor room in the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel in the mid-1930s,<ref name="Heller" /> and after that was outgrown,<ref name=":0" /> a space in the Erlanger Theater Building in 1937.<ref name="Heller" /> In an attempt to fulfill longstanding plans of a permanent home, the society purchased an empty lot on a street corner in 1940, but all construction soon halted because of World War II.<ref name=":0" /> After the war ended, with construction still at a halt, the organization used its increasingly full coffers in 1946 to purchase the Willis B. Jones home, which they rechristened the McElreath hall.<ref name="Heller" /><ref name=":0" /> The purchase was motivated by a need for a larger space in which to store and display the organization's large collection of artifacts and photos.<ref name="home">Template:Cite news</ref> A second employee was hired in 1948.<ref name=":0" />

When Walter McElreath died in 1965, his estate provided the society with a large influx of money (about $5,000,000<ref name=":0" />) and it began to publish its bulletin regularly.<ref name="Heller" /> Because of parking difficulties caused by the city's growth, and the cost of maintenance on the Jones home, the society began looking for a new home.<ref name="Heller" /> In 1966 the group used money from Walter McElreath's estate to purchase the 23-acre Edward H. Inmann estate, including the Swan House and several other buildings.<ref name="Heller" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This attracted a significant amount of public interest and volunteering.<ref name=":0" /> In 1967, Mills B Lane arranged with the society to pay to move the Tullie Smith House from its original location on to the property, replacing the Inmann barn.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> The organization built a main building on the estate between 1972 and 1975, which was also named the McElreath Hall.<ref name=":1" />

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.Template:Citation needed

In 1990, the Atlanta Historical Society was renamed Atlanta History Center. The $15 million museum opened in 1993 with five exhibitions, including its first signature Atlanta history exhibition, Metropolitan Frontiers. An $11 million expansion, finished in 1996, added two new permanent exhibitions. The Kenan Research Center library was later expanded and the gardens reorganized, with a fourth permanent exhibition added, Down the Fairway with Bobby Jones.Template:Citation needed

In 2014, the city of Atlanta announced its intentions to relocate the Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama and its artifacts to Atlanta History Center, including the antebellum Western & Atlantic locomotive, the Texas. The museum constructed an expansion to house the 360-degree panoramic painting, as well as the Texas locomotive, and other pieces in the Cyclorama collection.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better citation needed After a careful restoration, the Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama opened to the public February 22, 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Atlanta History Center website
• Atlanta History Center on Google Cultural Institute
• Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary