Walkabout with Becky: The Atlanta History Center

The Atlanta History Center was founded in 1926 by fourteen men as the Atlanta Historical Society. They began as a group of civic-minded Atlantans who met in each other's homes, collected early manuscripts and photos, and published research bulletins to "arouse in the citizens and friends of Atlanta an interest in history.” They probably never envisioned the future impact their collected works would have on the city of Atlanta.

In 1986 the still relatively small group received the DuBose Collection of Civil War artifacts, donated by Mrs. Beverly M. DuBose, Jr. In 1989, the Society built the current museum to house the DuBose collection, which was one of the world’s largest private Civil War collections, consisting of 7,500 individual Union and Confederate objects, from firearms and swords to buttons and ammunition. In 1990, the Historical Society and all its holdings became known as the Atlanta History Center. Located in the heart of Atlanta's Buckhead district, the Atlanta History Center includes one of the Southeast's largest history museums, a research library and archives that annually serve more than 10,000 patrons and two historic houses illustrating over a century of Atlanta's history.

The entrance to the Atlanta History Center

History center membership privileges

Exit from the museum proper to visit the two historic properties on the history center grounds

The barn at the approach to the Tullie Smith House

The Tullie Smith House is an antebellum farmhouse built by the Robert Smith family around 1840 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally a small farm in Dekalb County with 11 slaves, comprising 200 acres. Originally located east of Atlanta, outside the city limits, the house survived the near-total destruction of Atlanta in 1864. The farm complex was moved to the Atlanta History Center's campus in 1969 and serves as a tangible reminder of the rural past in a metropolitan area where agriculture has essentially disappeared. The Tullie Smith House is surrounded by a separate open-hearth kitchen, blacksmith shop, smokehouse, double corncrib, pioneer log cabin, and barn, as well as traditional vegetable, herb, and flower gardens. Contrary to popular belief, family farms were more common in Georgia than the large plantations many people associate with the "Deep South."

The barn on the left, the blacksmith shop in the center, and the corncrib on the right

The entrance to the blacksmith shop

The interior of the blacksmith shop

Tools in the blacksmith shop

The barn and corral

The corncrib building

The Tullie Smith House with picket fence

The last Smith to occupy the property was Tullie, the great-great-granddaughter of Robert. By the 1960s the house was surrounded by highways and development and was donated to the Atlanta Historical Society. The house has been restored and is operated as a 19th century historic house museum. Living history presentations are given during special events.

The front porch of the Tullie Smith House

A garden corner in front of the house

The back of the Smith House

The docent in front of the open-hearth kitchen building

This building houses the kitchen, a separate room, behind the Tullie Smith House.

A vine-covered pergola near the house

A well near the house

Slave quarters on the grounds of the Tullie Smith House--none too roomy

The corral adjoining the slave quarters

The slave quarters with a Buckhead high-rise in the background

Leaving the grounds of the farmhouse, on the way to the Swan House

The Tullie Smith House in the distance

A sign indicating the way to the Swan House

A Wild Oak Hydrangea bush on the path to the Swan House

The Swan House east facade

The Swan House, designed by Philip Trammell Shutze in the 1920s, is named for its many swan motifs. May 2004 marked the completion of a five-year, $5.45 million restoration project designed to bring the 1928 Swan House back to its original historical appearance. The interior and exterior architecture, furniture, wallpaper and paint, as well as the surrounding gardens and grounds of this 1928 mansion have all been authentically restored to their original splendor.

A garden with three sculptural niches across from the entrance to the Swan House

There is a terrace above the ivy-covered portals, which you can see only after you climb the curving stairs on either side of the portals.

Stone benches on the terrace

The terrace at the top of the stairs with its seating area

The entrance to the Swan House on the east façade, with its four-columned portico

Tall stone urns are on either side of the doorway

A carriage lamp above the doorway and a shell motif above the door

Our docent for the Swan House

The front landscape, a cascade fountain based on the fountain at the Villa Corsini in Rome and a terraced lawn, is one of the most photographed places in America.

A view of the roof line of the house

The top of the cascading fountain

A view of the fountain from the top, looking down

The west façade of the Swan House faces Andrews Drive, with a very large expanse of terraced lawn between the house and street. The only way to gain access to the house is by the entrance on the east façade.

The Civil War and Military Collection

This award-winning permanent exhibition explores the Civil War, a turning point in American history. It features more than 1,200 objects, primarily from the renowned DuBose Civil War Collection. The displays include the Confederate States flag that flew over Atlanta at the time of its capture, a Federal supply wagon used by Sherman's army, uniforms, weapons, artillery gun tubes, soldiers' personal items, letters, diaries, medical equipment, a civilian overcoat and hat, veterans' memorabilia and more.

A war of ideals

In the words of the soldier in the photo: “I felt that I should be disgraced if I remained at home while other boys no older than myself were out fighting.”-- Captain James Cooper, C.S.A. Tennessee

Ideals under fire

In 1861, the volunteers who marched off to war joined lest they be disgraced or outcast from their communities. They expected to be comfortable and packed as though they were going for a family camping trip and expected the war to be over quickly.

“We soon found out that the glory of war was at home among the ladies and not upon the field of blood and carnage and death.”--Private Sam Watkins, C.S.A Tennesee

Sherman’s Army sign

A display featuring soldiers’ pastimes during the war

A Confederate flag and overcoat

Cavalry weapons and accessories

The Folk life Gallery was another very interesting collection.

The collection features more than 7,000 objects, including furniture, handcrafted pottery, woodwork, basketry, weaving, quilting and metalwork. The exhibition examines the folk art and domestic everyday life of Southerners.