Atlanta History Center - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Exhibit, Swan House & Tullie Smith 1800's Farm

The Atlanta History Center opened in October 1993 with 5 signature exhibitions:  The Centennial Olympic Games Museum, Turning Point:  The American Civil War, Metropolitan Frontiers, Shaping Traditions:  Folk Arts in a Changing South, and Down the Fairway with Bobby Jones.  Today, the Atlanta History Center maintains these permanent exhibitions and currently hosts three traveling exhibits as well as three temporary exhibits.

My primary visit today was to visit the temporary exhibit titled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr - I Have a Dream with several co-workers from The Home Depot's Corporate HQ as part of a team building event.  Since Home Depot is one of the corporate sponsors, we got in free and figured it would be a great experience.   I also wanted to see as much as possible of all the other things as well.  And I'll have to apologize up front.  I screwed up a great deal of the pictures I took in some of the exhibits so some have a few and others have none.  I was able to get quite a few from the Swan House and Tullie Smith Farm as well as the AHC Quarry Gardens because they were mostly outside and had better lighting.

The MLK I Have a Dream exhibit contains the largest collection of personal writings, sermons and books from the personal library of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr ever displayed.  No photography is allowed in the exhibit, so my apologies for not having any of those except the few at the entrance.  The exhibit is a very moving and detailed look into the life and family of MLK Jr during the civil rights movement in America.   It clearly conveys, and sometimes graphically, the horror of a people struggling for equality in a land that supposedly called itself the land of the free.  One thing is for certain, it was definately 'the home of the brave' for the many blacks living in America during the 1950's to 1970's.  I found myself wanting to stop and read every single word from each of his writings but it was nearly impossible based on the limited time I had.  The Atlanta History Center offers headsets with digital recordings that go more in depth at each of the displays in the exhibit.  And since it's free for the time being, I'll have to plan a trip back again for further reading (and so I can replace the pics I lost as well!).