National Center for Civil and Human Rights completes expansion project
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Annika Polatsek, a visitor experience assistant at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, watches as a man and child listen to music included in an exhibit. Photo: Kristal Dixon/Axios
Atlanta's premier museum documenting the struggle for equality in America will open its newly expanded space to the public this weekend.
Why it matters: Amid political scrutiny of so-called "woke" exhibits at the Smithsonian museums, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights' project seeks to deepen public understanding of America's troubled past.
Driving the news: A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday for the 24,000-square-foot project, which cost around $58 million to build.
- The expansion includes two new wings, three classrooms, six galleries and interactive experiences that "connect the lessons of the past to the challenges of the present," the center said in a news release.
- Visitors can check out the updated space starting Saturday.
Zoom in: The center updated its flagship gallery, "Rolls Down Like Water: The American Civil Rights Movement," with new experiences such as the lunch counter simulation.
- Guests sit at the counter, put on headphones and relive the experiences student protesters faced when they organized sit-ins at restaurants.
- Another exhibit, "A Committed Life: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection," includes personal papers of the civil rights giant.
What they're saying: Bernice A. King, the youngest child of Martin and Coretta Scott King, will be the guest curator each time the exhibit rotates items.
- King told Axios the viewing items on display "can provide a sense of inspiration and guidance" for people seeking to understand human rights crises around the world.
- "At a time when so many other museums [are] under attack and having to pull back exhibits, we're taking a bold step here in the city of Atlanta to say that we're going to stand on truth and righteousness," she said. "We're going to tell the truth. We're not going to sanitize it."
The Shirley Clarke Franklin Pavilion and the Arthur M. Blank Inspiration Hall were also included in the expansion project.
- The pavilion includes event space, classrooms and rooftop views. Three new galleries, a cafe and museum store are housed in the Inspiration Hall.
- Franklin, a former mayor of Atlanta, said the center's updated exhibits provide context to America's complicated history.
- "Some of it is troubling, some of it is really ugly, but it shows the resilience of the American people, and it actually shows the resilience of the American South," she said.
What's next: In December, the center will open another exhibit, "Broken Promises: The Legacy of the Reconstruction Era."
- It will include space featuring a marker for the 1918 lynching of Mary Turner. Lonnie Holley will provide an artistic interpretation.