National Center for Civil and Human Rights
[ Atlanta ]
In prime downtown Atlanta territory, between the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and the Centennial Olympic Park, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights is set to open this May. The museum will highlight both the history of African-American civil rights issues and how past civil rights challenges can help our global community approach the future.
Unlike many museums, which tell stories of the past through artifacts or personal stories in multimedia exhibits, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights aims to directly connect past experiences to future situations.
Three main collections will explore civil rights on a local, regional and global level. The personal papers of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Morehouse College Collection will be displayed physically and will also be projected onto the walls; the eight-room Civil Rights Gallery will narrate the history of the civil rights movement; the Human Rights Gallery will interactively explore contemporary civil rights struggles around the world.
Though the museum’s construction and opening was delayed due to the recession, it has been acting as a museum without walls, hosting “films that matter” and CNN dialogues since 2011 in conjunction with the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University around human and civil rights issues. The outdoor film series, hosted in local parks, will continue this summer.
According to Gabriel Wardell, director of group sales, group booking procedures and tour information are still being set up.
