Research

Atlanta Urban Design Commission Records are now available for public access. This collection provides valuable insights into Atlanta’s visual arts and urban development. It includes artwork, sketches, photographs, and other materials that document the city’s design and architectural evolution. These records serve as a rich resource for researchers, urban planners and anyone interested in the cultural and historical landscapes of Atlanta.

On October 23, 2024, the US Navy announced that after twenty-five years, a ship commissioned the USS Atlanta will once again sail the seas of the world. The last USS Atlanta, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, was retired in 1999, the fifth such ship to bear the name of the city.

Using the 1912 tax returns and Aero Atlas Map Books, the Digital Storytelling Team at Atlanta History Center mapped the approximate locations of former Black property owners in Forsyth County

Party with the Past is a program series that travels to historic sites around the city. On Wednesday, September 18^th, we head to Concordia Hall in Downtown Atlanta. This event features a temporary exhibit that dives into the history of the rest of the neighborhood, walking tours, and more.

With funds from the Digital Library of Georgia, Atlanta History Center has digitized 213 more recordings from the John Burrison Georgia Folklore Collection. Read more about what’s in some of these fascinating interviews.

Join La’Neice Littleton, Ph.D., historian and Director of Community Collaborations, for an exploration of people, places, and events in Atlanta’s Black history.

Atlanta History Center Archives have been awarded a $137,554 Archival Projects Grant from NHPRC to rehouse, arrange, and create publicly accessible finding aids for archival collections that document populations and land use in and around Atlanta. The collections are, the Atlanta Department of City Planning, Atlanta Urban Design Commission, and Atlanta Real Estate Board appraisals. These collections are important to understanding the impacts of segregation and redlining on Black Atlantans especially, and will fill several gaps in historic property research.

The Atlanta Prison Farm operated from the mid-1920s-mid-1990s. Today, a portion of the site is under construction for a new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, while another portion of the site, which contains the remains of some Prison Farm buildings, resides on what the City of Atlanta is proposing as parkland. Atlanta History Center prepared this report to assist the Visioning, Memorializing, and Repurposing the former Atlanta Prison Farm Site subcommittee of the South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force.

Kenan Research Center offers high resolution digital reproductions of our historical photographs for commercial, philanthropic, or personal use.

Donate historical artifacts to the Kenan Research Center.

Family history research has moved into the mainstream, appealing to people of all ages, and is as accessible as the mobile device you’re holding in your hand right now. The best place to start is with you, and Kenan Research Center is here to help.

Learn more about how to research your historic home or neighborhood at the Kenan Research Center!