Atlanta - City

Atlanta History Center is proud to present a new exhibition on the life and work of one of America’s most influential interior designers. From her early days as a journalist to opening her own firm, Ruby Ross Wood’s work was always characterized by eclectic combinations of furniture, bold color choices, and impeccable taste.

Morris Brown College, founded in 1881, has faced adversity throughout its history. Despite this, it has thrived and produced notable alumni in various fields. In 2002, the college lost its accreditation and faced bankruptcy, but after almost two decades of operating as an unaccredited institution, it regained its accreditation. Today, the college continues to persevere, with its doors open and its dream alive.

The 37th Annual Swan House Ball brings together some of Atlanta’s most outstanding business, social, and community leaders for a night of fun, fashion, fellowship, and philanthropy at Atlanta History Center. Over the years, the ball has included a revolutionary roster of women, both past and present. From philanthropists and CEOs to first ladies and founders, Atlanta’s history is incomplete without honoring some of the defining women who have elevated the city. 

The Economist reviews Atlanta History Center’s new documentary Monument: The Untold Story of Stone Mountain, calling the film “powerful.”

The Christian Methodist Episcopal, founded in 1870 in Jackson, Tennessee, was the first Protestant African American denomination established in the South. With more than 330 CME churches in Georgia alone, it has become one of the premier Christian denominations for African American worship and religious life.   

A 30-minute documentary film produced by Atlanta History Center that explores the history of the monument from all angles, including the origin of the carving, the complicated relationships between the carving and contemporaneous historical events, and the key players who worked for its completion. The film is meant to inspire deeper learning and constructive conversations about this monument and what it represents to many different people.

How did the world’s largest Confederate monument end up outside of Atlanta? What should be done, if anything, with it? With these questions in mind, Atlanta History Center explores the controversial history through online resources and an upcoming documentary.

Of the approximately 75,000 Afghans evacuated to the United States when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, more than 1,500 came here to Georgia, with the vast majority resettling in Metro Atlanta. The arrival of record numbers of new families in a short time has tested the resources of the area’s resettlement agencies. So, informal networks of people have stepped up to help the new arrivals, some of whom have first-hand experience with the challenges facing these Afghan families.

Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta against Jerry Quarry at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium on October 26, 1970, is often relegated to the footnotes of Ali’s legacy despite its crucial role in the growth of Atlanta and the rebirth of his boxing career.

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.

When Azhar Mehmood and his wife Farah opened Mughals in 1994, they not only invited Atlantans to experience authentic Pakistani food, but also helped lay the foundation for Pakistani cultural life in metro Atlanta.

This display featured artifacts and archival items related to the history of the Chattahoochee River, including stories of the region’s Indigenous peoples to current uses and issues.

From 1949 when it opened until the late 1960s, the Royal Peacock was Atlanta’s premier nightclub. Located at 186 Auburn Avenue, people dressed to the nines would line up in lines that wrapped around the block just to see the best entertainers in the country including James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Marvin Gaye. The club helped create the fertile soil that allowed Atlanta to become the hip-hop and rhythm and blues capital of the South.

Long before workers at Starbucks and Amazon began fighting for the right to collectively bargain, workers at Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills fought to unionize, creating a blueprint for those in the present-day.