Atlanta - City

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.

For decades silverback gorilla, Willie B., was not only the premier attraction at Zoo Atlanta, but also one of the most famous gorillas in the world. When Willie B. died in 2000, thousands of Atlantans attended his memorial cementing his status as a true Atlanta legend.

Join us for our monthly event series highlighting the unexpected and delightful finds across our 33-acre campus.

When driving down a busy street in Atlanta, you may find yourself on a different road without making a turn. These seemingly nonsensical street name changes are due to past residential segregation practices enacted when white Atlantans did not want to share the same address as Blacks.

The Negro Motorist Green Book (later Negro Travelers’ Green Book) was an annual guidebook for African American travelers. First published in 1936, the pamphlet provided a list of Black-friendly restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs, lounges, and services in places across the country including Atlanta.

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.

Atlanta History Center is using our 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.

Throughout the civil rights movement in Atlanta, soul food restaurants were hubs of change where civil rights leaders could convene, converse, and strategize, and in times of terror and violence, these places were retreats where leaders could plan their next tactical moves.

Norfolk Southern, one of the nation’s major railroad systems, recently relocated its headquarters to Atlanta. The company celebrated its move with a major donation of archival materials from predecessor company Southern Railway to Atlanta History Center. We look back on the history of Southern Railway and reflect on the importance of this iconic railroad to Atlanta and the Southeast.

Meet Jasmine Nicole—printmaker, muralist, and 2021 Midtown Heart of the Arts artist-in-residence.

The magic of the holidays is in full bloom at Atlanta History Center. Explore our 33 acres of Goizueta Gardens and enjoy these native plant species known for spreading holiday cheer. 

Celebrate Atlanta’s rich musicality with this tour of places with ties to hip-hop history.

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.

November is National Adoption Month. This month we recognize Atlanta trailblazer Carrie Steele Logan. After being enslaved, Logan went on to establish the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home, the country’s first orphanage for Black children.