When Atlanta History Center marks 100 years of existence in 2026, the United States will mark its 250th anniversary.
We will focus on the role that Atlanta History Center can play in a functional democratic system and hold democracy at the center of our research, scholarship, and storytelling. As people across our city, state, and country consider what it means to create a democracy functioning by and for everyone, Atlanta History Center will use its resources to explore the history of the components that make a healthy democratic system, including methods of civic engagement, widespread and informed voter participation, civil rights, and community leadership.
Out of Many, One
Through 43 powerful portraits—personally painted by former President George W. Bush—and their accompanying stories, Out of Many, One reminds us of the ways in which America has been strengthened by those who left their home countries to live in the United States.
Learn moreAmerican Democracy
American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith explored the history of American government, and how that system has been tested, improved, damaged, and repaired over time.
Learn moreMedia Highlights
Everyone has to do something to make democracy work. Without it, what do we have?
Upcoming Events
Related Offerings
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Projects & Initiatives
Confederate Monument Interpretation Guide
A toolkit designed to help communities address Confederate monuments in their midst.
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Exhibition
Any Great Change: The Centennial of the 19th Amendment
Any Great Change explores the decades-long struggle for women’s suffrage as well as the key groups, their strategies, and their leaders.
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Projects & Initiatives
Veterans History Project
The Veterans History Project oral history collection contains video and audio interviews of those who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, and civilians who supported them.
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Exhibition
United States Colored Troops Collection Highlight
Atlanta History Center is home to one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of Civil War memorabilia including a growing number of rare objects identified specifically with African American USCT soldiers and regiments such as a canteen, swords, a rifle, brass drum, knapsack, Bible, badges, a Medal of Honor, and a USCT flag.
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Exhibition
Turning Point: The American Civil War
The Civil War is the decisive turning point in American history. A nation divided against itself before—half enslaved, half free—was reunited. Experience the Civil War through the eyes of soldiers and civilians.
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Exhibition
Veteran Voices
Atlanta History Center records, preserves, and makes accessible the stories of men and women who did serve as well as the civilians who supported them. Their stories allow future generations to hear directly from those who lived through our nation’s conflicts to better appreciate the realities and the sacrifices of war.
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Exhibition
More Than Self: Living the Vietnam War
Between 1964 and 1975, nearly 3,500,000 men and women served in the United States armed forces in Southeast Asia. Each of them has a story to tell. Each story is unique.
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For Educators
School Tours
Atlanta History Center offers multi-disciplinary and interactive virtual and on-site tours for students of all ages that are educational and fun.
Our Strategic Plan
In December 2021, Atlanta History Center implemented a new strategic plan that aligns with our purpose to use history to bring people together to explore new and different perspectives with the goal of strengthening our shared commitment to, and engagement in, our democratic system.
Read nowFeatured Partnership
Atlanta History Center is a founding partner of Made By Us, a coalition of over 100 history museums and sites meeting Millennials and Gen Z where they are with history to ignite, inform, and inspire their civic participation.
Learn moreRelated Stories
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Story
Voices of Freedom
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the middle of the Civil War, ending slavery for those in Confederate-aligned slave-holding states and territories. Freedom for those who had been enslaved meant the hope of opportunity and the potential for a brighter future. These are some of the stories of the formerly enslaved and their lives after slavery.
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Story
Celebrate Juneteenth by Planting an ‘Emancipation Garden’
For African Americans, Juneteenth commemorates the final liberation of their ancestors who were enslaved. Why not honor that historic day by planting an Emancipation Garden? An Emancipation Garden is a refreshing way to nourish body and soul, recreate and remember the foodways of African Americans in the South, and celebrate the freedom of the formerly enslaved.
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Story
Freedom Across Georgia
At the end of the Civil War, millions of enslaved people living in the United States became free. “Freedom Across Georgia” explores the experiences of six formerly enslaved people from Georgia and their individual stories of freedom.
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Story
Reproductive Rights in Georgia: Doe v. Bolton
On the same day Roe v. Wade was decided, the Supreme Court also ruled in Doe v. Bolton. Doe v. Bolton was the companion case to Roe v. Wade that expanded women’s access to abortion.
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Watch. Past Events.
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Author Talks
Jonathan Darman
Author of Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis that Made a PresidentThursday, Sep 8, 2022 @ 7:00 pm
Virtual Event -
Author Talks
Ernie Suggs in conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young
Author of The Many Lives of Andrew YoungThursday, Jun 30, 2022 @ 7:00 pm -
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Author Talks
David Dennis Jr. in conversation with David Wall Rice
Author of The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom RideTuesday, Jun 21, 2022 @ 7:00 pm -
Explore. More.
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Community Engagement
Collaboratively, we develop historically accurate, culturally relevant, and provocative programs, exhibitions, theatrical productions, lectures, author panels, videos, and a host of other experiences.
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Public Programs
Atlanta History Center offers a variety of annual programs that explore and celebrate our shared history.