The Swan House at the Atlanta History Center reopens Saturday after a three-month renovation, with a new permanent exhibition exploring the building’s connections to Atlanta’s civil rights history.
The 1928 Philip Trammell Shutze-designed mansion, which sits on the history center’s Buckhead campus, was closed to the public in April while crews restored the exterior and updated the interior exhibits.
The new exhibition, titled “Swan House: A More Complete Story,” adds context about the enslaved people who built and worked in the home before the Civil War, as well as the family’s role in shaping post-war Atlanta.
“This is the story of this house as it has always been told, but now with the fuller picture,” said Atlanta History Center president Sheffield Hale. “We are committed to telling the complete history of Atlanta, and that includes the difficult parts.”
The exhibition includes oral histories from descendants of the people who worked in the house, as well as photographs and artifacts from the family’s private collection.
The Swan House first opened as a museum in 1967 and has been one of Atlanta’s most popular historic house tours ever since. It is best known as the setting for the ballroom scene in the 1988 movie “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Tickets to the Swan House are $22 for adults and $18 for seniors, students, and children. Atlanta History Center members are free.
The Swan House is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information is available at atlantahistorycenter.com.
