The Atlanta History Center is anticipating an eventful year in honor of its centennial. From the center’s largest exhibition to date to a sports-themed overhaul of the Goizueta Children’s Experience in partnership with five of the city’s professional teams, residents and visitors will have the opportunity to experience Atlanta’s past, present, and future throughout 2026.
Founded in 1926, the Atlanta Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the city’s history. That history was made more accessible to the public in 1990 with the establishment of the 33-acre Atlanta History Center campus in Buckhead, which includes curated gardens, historic homes like the Swan House, the Cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta, and the museum itself, featuring permanent and rotating exhibits.
“There’s truly something for everyone here,” said Pola Changnon, chief content officer for the AHC. With six curated exhibitions and experiences spanning from March into the fall, museum-goers can explore something new all year.
Two of the AHC’s centennial exhibitions will highlight the Civil War, including the center’s largest-ever exhibition, “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era,” opening in July.
“Atlanta is this significant metro area, a thriving area in the country, let alone in the southeast, with probably the most active piece of the Civil War under our feet,” Changnon said.
The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 marked the turning point of the Civil War, making the city a relevant spot to examine the conflict. The exhibition will include never-before-seen artifacts and immersive narratives.
“A lot of the goal is for us to make this, especially for audiences that might not be as familiar with these stories, feel human,” Chagnon said. “It’s not only about the battlefields and about the steady progress of the Union Army, or what it meant, specifically in Atlanta, to literally live in the turning point of the Civil War. It’s about how it impacted people, whether it was for the enslaved population, the self-emancipated population, women, or people living on farms.”
The AHC’s senior military historian and curator, Gordon Jones, is a major force behind the large exhibition. Through “More Perfect Union,” Jones is revisiting and improving an exhibition he curated that was deinstalled from the center 30 years ago.
“We have new artifacts, new scholarship, and new technologies to be able to communicate this story in a more fulsome way,” Changnon said. “I think the quote that our historian always uses is, ‘this is not your grandfather’s Civil War.’”
Coincidentally, the AHC will celebrate its 100th anniversary in the same year America will enter its 250th. The first exhibition of the centennial, showing from March 27 to April 12, will bring the Freedom Plane to Atlanta, connecting the two anniversaries by displaying a selection of America’s founding documents from the National Archives.
Atlanta will be one of eight locations across the country to welcome the Freedom Plane documents. Admission to the AHC will be free for the duration of the exhibition.
The final exhibition of the centennial, opening in the fall, is titled “Exile from Georgia: The Cherokee and Muscogee Trail of Tears.” The museum worked with representatives from the two native tribes to ensure that their history was presented respectfully and to “challenge visitors, so they walk away with a clearer understanding of this complex history,” according to the center’s website.
The land Atlanta sits on has a long history, which the AHC additionally tells through its gardens. With native plants, flowering displays, and even heirloom animals at the Smith Farm Gardens, the gardens “tell the history of the land,” Changnon said. “It’s a different expression of history. The gardens are interpreted through these different lenses that can fill in more about the natural world in terms of history.”
The AHC’s centennial will not only celebrate the past, but also the present. The museum is collaborating with the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, Atlanta United, and Atlanta Dream to retrofit the Goizueta Children’s Experience to teach younger visitors about sports in the city. There will be games, activities, and storytelling that emphasize teamwork, perseverance, and hometown pride. Admission to the experience is included with the purchase of a museum ticket.
If going to the museum isn’t enough, visitors can bring home a piece of Atlanta’s history during the center’s centennial. Opening in April, the “Atlanta in 100 Objects: A Century of Stories” exhibit will be accompanied by a coffee table book available for purchase featuring the selected objects that tell Atlanta’s tale. Some of the objects include Spelman College bulletins, a Civil War battle flag, and the Auburn Avenue Rib Shack sign. The artifacts will be spaced throughout the campus, sending visitors on a self-guided treasure hunt through time.
“Our story is Atlanta’s story, but it’s also America’s,” said Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of Atlanta History Center, in a statement. “As we enter our next century, we remain committed to honoring the full, complex history of this city and spotlighting the people, places, and moments that shape both Atlanta and the nation in a clear, even-handed way grounded in evidence. Through its contradictions, courage, creativity, and culture, Atlanta offers a powerful lens for understanding what it means to be American.”
To see all the upcoming centennial events, visit atlantahistorycenter.com.
This story has been updated to correct the dates of the Freedom Plane exhibition, March 27 to April 12.
