Research

In 2021, the Atlanta History Center was awarded the Basic Preservation Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to preserve and make available four Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce films spanning from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. The films document Atlanta’s shifting landscape resulting from economic population growth during the mid-20th century, as well as the impact of Atlanta’s first professional soccer team.

Formed in June 1972, the Atlanta Lesbian/Feminist Alliance (ALFA) was established to increase lesbian visibility and solidarity, and to provide means for women to exist outside of society’s sexist institutions. The Kenan Research Center has recently processed several visual collections related LGBTQ+ history, which include photographs related to ALFA.

Like many professional Black Atlantans of yesteryear, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent a lot of time at the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia. Because of his close relationship with the MWPHGLG, some have speculated that King joined the lodge and became a Prince Hall Freemason before his death.

Board of Park Commission Minute Books hold significant information, reflecting the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in urban spaces during the early twentieth century.

The rebellion which reverberated from New York City down to Atlanta and the subsequent five days of protests jumpstarted the gay rights movement.

The Cherokee Garden Library continuingly works to build a book collection that enhances our understanding of the gardening traditions of African American, Native American, and Latinx communities of the Southeastern United States. Explore our new titles that highlight these areas of focus.

As Atlanta History Center works to make history available and accessible to all, a key component is women’s history. This initiative is made possible by Emily Bourne Grigsby whose bequest endows support for the research, interpretation, and presentation of the role of women in the South.

Though the story of the Atlanta Crackers is well-known, for years, the story of the Atlanta Black Crackers was largely untold.

From providing aid near battlefields to serving on the frontlines of a public health crisis, the Red Cross is constantly adapting to the community’s needs.

In 1962, Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. ordered the construction of a barricade served to sever the main line connecting the white and Black sections of the Cascade Heights neighborhood.

Yann and Mareth Mak escaped Cambodia with their eight children arriving in Atlanta in October 1981 to get away from genocide carried out by Khmer Rouge.

For more than fifty years, Ethel Mae Matthews worked tirelessly for greater welfare rights for Atlanta’s poor and disabled.

Explore behind the scenes of our museum collections with our Collections Manager.

Explore the lives of four pioneering women who played a vital role in shaping the landscape of our city and state.