The National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta will reopen Nov. 8 after a monthslong, nearly $60 million renovation that adds six new galleries, classrooms and interactive experiences designed to turn the institution into a more dynamic center for civic engagement and education.
Privately funded and separate from federally supported institutions such as the Smithsonian, the center said the expansion positions it to deepen work on civil and human rights, racial justice and democratic participation at a time when debates over how American history is taught have intensified. The renovation is intended to move the museum beyond a static presentation of artifacts toward programs that encourage visitors — including children — to take action in their communities, officials said.
The center has remained active ahead of the reopening with a slate of education and outreach initiatives. Those include more than 300 online K-12 lesson plans, a LGBTQ+ Institute, diversity, equity and inclusion training, human rights training for law enforcement and a Truth & Transformation Initiative focused on forced labor, racial terror and other historic injustices. Jill Savitt, the center’s president and CEO, said the expansion also aims to increase repeat visitation through immersive experiences.
"We want to whet the appetite of kids to see that they can be involved. They can do it," Savitt said, describing a new family-focused gallery called "Change Agent Adventure" that asks children under 12 to pledge a concrete action — however small — that reflects responsibility, empathy and fairness. That experience is scheduled to open next April.
The renovation adds new historical and contemporary perspectives. "Broken Promises," an exhibit opening in December, will examine the post-Civil War Reconstruction era and the violent backlash that curtailed advances made by formerly enslaved people. Kama Pierce, the exhibit’s curator, said the gallery aims to frame a recurring national pattern of progress followed by backlash.
On display in the Reconstruction-focused gallery will be a Georgia historical marker from the site of the 1918 lynching of Mary Turner. The marker, pockmarked by bullets and donated by Turner’s descendants to protect it from vandalism, will be displayed along with the family’s words, Pierce said. "There are 11 bullet holes and 11 grandchildren living," Pierce said, and the family’s testimony will be incorporated to show resilience amid violence.
The center also has rethought some of its earlier displays. Large images of dictators historically associated with mass atrocities have been removed and replaced by global examples of successful human rights campaigns, reflecting a shift toward showcasing victories and civic strategies. Savitt cited research suggesting that emphasizing agency and measurable victories can sustain public engagement more effectively than presenting only bleak accounts of abuses.
The expansion includes a recreated room modeled on the home office of Martin Luther King Jr., with family photos contributed by Bernice King, the center’s first guest curator and King’s daughter. The exhibit intends to portray King as a person and family member in addition to his role as a movement leader.
A notably visceral installation lets visitors join a recreated 1960s sit-in. Participants don headphones and take a lunch-counter stool while recordings recreate the sound of a hostile segregationist crowd. Recognizing the emotional weight of the experience, the museum has added a "reflection area" where visitors can pause afterward to process what they have seen.
The center opened in 2014 on land donated by the Coca-Cola Co., adjacent to the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola, after being envisioned by civil rights figures including Evelyn Lowery and Andrew Young. Ticket sales, which once made the site a major tourist draw, fell after the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said, and leaders hope immersive and repeat-visit programming will help restore attendance.
Philanthropic support seeded the expansion, with major contributions from Home Depot co-founder Arthur M. Blank, the Mellon Foundation and other donors, Savitt said. She acknowledged corporate donors face a complex public environment but said many saw supporting civic education and human-rights teaching as an investment in a healthy democracy.
"It is the story of democracy — Who gets to participate? Who has a say? Who gets to have a voice?" Savitt said. She added that advocacy and change-making can be contagious: when people see success, they are often motivated to do more.
The expansion and programming come as national conversations about curricula, historical memory and the role of civic institutions continue. The center’s leaders emphasized that, as a privately funded institution, its content is not subject to the same federal oversight as some government-supported museums. The center’s officials framed their work as both educational and action-oriented, aiming to inform visitors about past injustices and to provide tools to promote human rights and civic participation in the present.
As the museum reopens, officials said they will continue to run education programs for K-12 students and law enforcement, host the LGBTQ+ Institute and pursue outreach to communities historically marginalized in civic life. The center’s leaders described the renovation as part of a broader effort to make the museum a site for learning and for fostering civic engagement amid shifting cultural and political debates about how American history should be taught and remembered.