Mommy Octopus

The Atlanta History Center will present a thought-provoking day of programming for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 16.

In recent years, the Atlanta History Center has offered free admission for the MLK holiday, drawing more than 1,800 to its Buckhead campus in 2016. For the 2017 observance, the institution is organizing a slate of free programs in Buckhead and at Midtown’s Margaret Mitchell House intended to engage the growing MLK Day audience on subjects from Civil War slavery to civil rights movement-sparked integration.

The Atlanta History Center and Margaret Mitchell House will be open 10 AM to 5:30 PM on this free admission day.

Here is a sampling of the programming that will be offered (check AtlantaHistoryCenter.com for updates):

AT ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta

Featured Speaker: Frye Gaillard, Go South to Freedom 3:00 pm Duration: 45 minutes with book signing to follow

Go South to Freedom is an “as told to” slavery story for middle-schoolers, with a strong Georgia connection, written by award-winning Alabama author Frye Gaillard. The account of a daring escape to freedom by the Fields family was shared with Gaillard by the direct descendent of the family whose story he tells. Enslaved Georgian Gilbert Fields and his family ran away one stormy night, intending to travel north under cover of darkness, only to discover that clouds obscuring the stars had caused them to flee southward instead. They had no choice but to keep going, seeking sanctuary with the Seminole Indians of Florida and later a community of free blacks in Mobile.

With his friend’s blessing, Gaillard has expanded this oral history into a novel for young readers. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews said, “Alligator-filled swamps, a drowning, beatings, and terror … a realistic picture of what runaway American slaves faced. …  An informative and well-told story about a little-known aspect of American slavery that needs to be remembered and retold.” Bestselling young adult novelist Irene Latham called the book “a campfire story for all ages.” And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution added in its recent review, “Go South to Freedom has it all: danger, toil, tragedy, suspense, courage and a huge heart.”

In April, Frye Gaillard was honored with the Eugene Current-Garcia Distinguished Scholar Award, recognizing “scholarly reflection and writing on literary topics,” at the Alabama Writers Symposium. His previous honors include the Lillian Smith Award, the Clarence Cason Award, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year Award.

Museum Theatre Experiences: 

 Walking Through the Valley

Woodruff Auditorium

Noon and 2:00 pm Duration: 45 minutes

Join us for a special staged reading of playwright and Atlanta History Center Director of Museum Theatre Addae Moon’s Walking Through the Valley. In 1963, a young activist has been asked to alter the language in a speech he has written for what will become a historic event. He envisions a conversation with four historic freedom fighters in an effort to decide if a compromise with the “powers that be” will serve a greater good.

Rosalyn Walton

Gatheround: Stories of Atlanta exhibition

10:15 am, 11:15 am, 1:15 pm, 2:00 pm Duration: 12 minutes

In a Meet the Past museum theatre performance, Rosalyn Walton, of the Atlanta Nine – a group of trailblazing students who integrated Atlanta schools — is being interviewed by a reporter and comes to realize that simply being a regular teenager presents challenges as well.

Freedom Ride Simulation

10:15 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm Duration: 40 minutes

Parental guidance is suggested.

Do you have what it takes to be a civil rights movement Freedom Fighter? In this interactive theatrical simulation, test your courage by traveling into the Deep South on a Freedom Ride with CORE representatives and help test new laws banning segregation on interstate buses.

Ongoing activities:

• Make a protest button
• Create inspiring resistance poetry
• And more

AT MARGARET MITCHELL HOUSE, 979 Crescent Ave NE, Atlanta

Featured Speaker: Calinda Lee, The Time is Always Right to Do the Right Thing: Lessons from Drum Majors for Justice

Noon Duration: 45 minutes

Atlanta History Center historian Calinda Lee presents a talk about the remarkable, brave Georgians who helped form the ethos of equality and non-violence that shaped the young Martin Luther King Jr., as well as those took up his mantle to press for justice and equity after his death.  Join us as Lee remembers Howard Thurman, James Orange, and Ruby Doris Smith Robinson — powerful voices who labored in  MLK’s tradition. And share your own memories of Atlanta’s unsung drum majors for justice.

 Calinda Lee trained at Spelman College, New York University, and Emory University, and writes, lectures, and develops exhibitions on U.S. history and culture, with an emphasis on the South. The Atlanta History Center historian curated Gatheround: Stories of Atlanta, the new cornerstone exhibition at the AHC’s Buckhead campus.

 Martin Luther King Jr. Day sponsor: Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of Fulton County Arts Council.

ABOUT THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER:

Founded in 1926, the Atlanta History Center is an all-inclusive, 33-acre destination featuring the Atlanta History Museum, one of the nation’s largest history museums; three historic houses (the 1928 Swan House, the 1860 Smith Family Farm, and the frontier-era Wood Family Cabin; Kenan Research Center; the Grand Overlook event space; the Atlanta History Center bookstore (sharing space with a Souper Jenny café); and Goizueta Gardens. In addition, the History Center operates the Margaret Mitchell House located in Midtown Atlanta.

For information on Atlanta History Center offerings, hours of operation and admission, call 404.814.4000 or visit AtlantaHistoryCenter.com.