The Atlanta History Museum anchors the 33-acre campus of the Atlanta History Center. A capital campaign is underway to redesign the building and its signature Atlanta History exhibition. interpretive role for the metro area by becoming known for its innovative and thought-provoking methods of presenting local and regional stories to a national audience and national stories to a local and regional audience. Perhaps the most transformative initiative to our programming is Meet the Past, a new multi-year programming initiative, funded by the Goizueta Foundation, that brings to life the stories of real people from history through museum theater and interactive interpretation. As we plan for a presence in the community that is not just driven by exhibitions, Meet the Past is expanding into a regular offering with characters and museum theater experiences used to share the stories of our past throughout our exhibitions, historic houses and grounds. For example, the new Smith Family Farm experience allows visitors to encounter a Piedmont Georgia farm facing the challenges of the Civil War on the home front. The visitor becomes a partner in history as they interact with historic characters, including members of the Smith family, enslaved men and women who lived on the farm, neighbors and others. The living history characters share personal stories, perspectives and highlights of what life was like 150 years ago in 1863, engaging visitors in conversations, demonstrations and daily tasks from past times. One year ago, we launched Party with the Past, a free afterhour program series designed to engage young professionals with the History Center. With a tagline “Free History, Cold Beer,” this series shows that history can have some humor and gets us off of our campus and directly into other communities. Each party takes place at a different historic spot in the city and more than 2,700 people have attended at locations like the Margaret 46
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Mitchell House, Auburn Avenue, Oakland Cemetery, the Fox Theater, Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points, Swan House and Zoo Atlanta. We’re seeing people coming to Party with the Past and then visiting our campus for other events because they want to be more involved. On Jan. 1, 2013, the Franklin M. Garrett Library and Studio became the new home of the Atlanta branch of StoryCorps, a tremendous partnership between StoryCorps, WABE 90.1 FM and the AHC. This innovative radio program allows people of all walks of life to record and share their stories. TELL US ABOUT PLANS TO RESHAPE THE MUSEUM, AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE NEW ATLANTA STORY EXHIBITION.
The AHC was founded 87 years ago with a focus on preserving Atlanta’s history through collecting. The opening of the Atlanta History Museum in 1993 was a watershed event. The museum and exhibitions allowed us to expand focus, and provide a broader interpretation of Atlanta’s history, through our collections. Through our Kenan Research Center, collections, exhibitions, programming, and interpretation, we are weaving local history into a national story. Our museum front presence on West Paces Ferry does not properly portray the AHC of today. Our current capital campaign focuses on improving our front yard presence from West Paces Ferry Road. We want our campus to become an open, vibrant and welcoming place for our visitors and community. How can our street presence become something iconic and inviting while respecting the commercial and residential area of our location? We want to design an engaging visitor experience from the