Atlanta History Center marks 100th year with national documents display and major Civil War overhaul

A centennial year built around new public exhibitions

The Atlanta History Center, founded in 1926 as the Atlanta Historical Society, is marking its 100th year with a packed schedule of new exhibitions and a large-scale reworking of key gallery spaces across its Buckhead campus. The institution—renamed the Atlanta History Center in 1990—has grown into a museum and research complex that includes the Atlanta History Museum, historic houses and gardens, and collections spanning local history, politics, culture and the Civil War era.

Rare founding-era records arrive in Atlanta for a limited run

One of the first major centennial offerings is a short-term exhibition of U.S. founding-era materials scheduled to open March 27. The display is set to run for 16 days and includes early national documents tied to the Revolutionary period and the formation of the federal government, such as material related to the Declaration of Independence era, the Treaty of Paris that concluded the Revolutionary War, and early constitutional printing.

The exhibition is structured as a traveling presentation with only a small number of host sites nationally, placing Atlanta among a limited group of cities where the collection will be publicly viewable during its tour.

“Atlanta in 100 Objects” expands the centennial beyond the museum walls

In late April, the Center plans to publish a centennial book, “Atlanta in 100 Objects: A Century of Stories,” presenting 100 items drawn from its collections. The objects are slated to be presented not only in print but also in a campuswide exhibition, with items placed in multiple locations to encourage visitors to navigate the broader site rather than a single gallery.

• Items associated with Atlanta’s civic and cultural life are expected to be distributed across museum areas and historic spaces.
• The accompanying exhibition format is designed to connect artifacts to the locations and themes where they carry the most context.

Children’s gallery shifts to Atlanta sports ahead of the 2026 World Cup moment

Beginning May 30, the Goizueta Children’s Experience—a 5,000-square-foot interactive gallery aimed at children through age 8—will rotate to a new Atlanta sports theme. The planned makeover includes interactive activities developed in collaboration with the city’s major professional teams: the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Dream and Atlanta United.

Largest project: rebuilding the Center’s Civil War narrative in two phases

The most extensive initiative on the 2026 calendar is a major reconstruction and expansion of the Center’s long-running Civil War permanent exhibition. The new installation is scheduled to open in two phases: “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era” on July 9, followed by “Hard Hand of War: Soldiers, Weapons, and Mass Production” in October. Together, the updated exhibitions will span roughly 15,400 square feet.

The redesigned galleries are planned to widen the interpretive frame beyond battlefield events to include the war’s causes, the changing definitions of citizenship and freedom, and consequences that continued through Reconstruction and into later struggles over rights and identity.

New fall exhibition planned on forced removal from Georgia

Later in the year, the Center is also scheduled to open “Exile from Georgia: The Cherokee and Muscogee Trail of Tears,” examining the forced removal of Cherokee and Muscogee people from their homelands in the 1830s and the human toll of the journey to what is now Oklahoma. The project has been developed with input from Cherokee and Muscogee advisers, and is intended to address both the historical record and the continuing presence of these nations today.