It was maybe 25 years ago when I last visited the Atlanta History Center. In fact, it was so long ago that I couldn’t remember what the main building looked like. Over the years, we have held memberships, so a few weeks ago, when I was going over my list of places to shoot film, it seemed like a good time to visit. I started thinking about the center’s grounds, especially the Smith Farm—one of the exhibits I vaguely remembered from 25 years ago. That train of thought led to new memberships and a visit with a Canon s95 and two Minolta AF-Cs at hand. What I did not plan for, and soon regretted, was walking around in 96°F temps with sky-high humidity.
Aside from the weather, we chose an opportune time for a visit as the center is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The museum sports a new entrance and lobby, as well as the famous Cyclorama and extensive gardens. My main interest was visiting the grounds, especially the gardens, the Smith Farm, and the Swan House.
Smith Farm is an authentic collection of slavery-era buildings. The main structures include the family home (Tullie Smith House), slave dwelling, barn, blacksmith shop, and other typical farm buildings. Of particular interest were the resident heritage sheep. I don’t recall them being there during my last visit. This time I kind of felt sorry for them. They still had thick wool coats, and I was melting in shorts and a T-shirt.
Unfortunately, the Swan House (built in 1928) and grounds weren’t completely open, so I didn’t get to take a picture of the cascading fountain as I had hoped. But it didn’t matter because by the time I got there, I was so tired and dehydrated that all I could think about was shade and a huge bottle of water. The heat and humidity shoved the gardens, which I had hoped to photograph, off the itinerary until fall or next spring.
Inside, the center had changed a lot in my long absence. A new exhibit focused on the Civil War, which I wandered through briefly, deserves a closer look. I also liked the brief time I spent in the section on Atlanta’s history. For example, I didn’t know a huge fire destroyed part of the city, not far from where I live.
Renewing our membership was a good idea. The first day that it is 75 degrees with low humidity, I’ll peruse the gardens.
