Address: 441 Freedom Parkway
Pricing: $8, $6 seniors, students, military;16 & under free
Phone: (404) 865-7100
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-4:45 p.m, Sunday, noon-4:45 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day)
How To Get There:
From the North or South, take I-75/85 to exit 248C, Freedom Parkway. Follow the signs to the Carter Center.
From the East or West, take Interstate 20 to the Moreland Avenue North exit, following Moreland Avenue north approximately two miles to Freedom Parkway. Turn left on Freedom Parkway, and
follow the signs to the Carter Center.
Parking:Free on site
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Jimmy Carter Museum: Peanut Farmer to Nobel Peace Prize
Published: Oct 2, 2009
It was about time they got rid of the curtains, Miss Rosalynn said.
The Jimmy Carter Museum reopened on the 39th president's 85th birthday with speeches, celebrities, and updated computer-enhanced interactive exhibits.
Walking through the new exhibits, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter tried out the state-of-the-art interactive table where touching one of three globes send visitors on a virtual tour around the world to observe the work of the Carters and The Carter Center. Gallagher and Associates, who designed D.C.’s Spy Museum, redesigned the library, turning the formerly staid and stodgy museum into a kid-friendly and informative and interactive historical exhibit. Almost everything in the museum, except the Oval Office replica, was updated.
"I’ve waited a long time to get rid of those curtains," joked Rosalynn Carter of a feature of the old museum. "This is bringing back a lot of memories."
Walking through the museum "shows what we’ve been doing for the last 25 years," said Plains’ most famous peanut farmer with his famous, toothy grin. Included is a replica of the nuclear submarine that the U.S. Naval Academy graduate spent three months at a time. It's width is only slightly wider than a modern big screen TV.
The Carters are especially proud that the museum now touches on Jimmy’s post-presidential activities, including work to advance human rights, monitoring elections and prevent Guinea worm and other diseases, and Rosalynn’s efforts to improve mental health care.
In a Rotunda-like gallery, visitors can follow "A Day in the Life of the President," following all of President Carter’s meetings, briefings and decisions on Dec. 11, 1978. You'll want to snap a photo of an exact replica of the Oval Office, set up as it was during the Carter administration. Photos from the Carter presidency include Rosalynn playing ping pong and John Travolta with Amy.
On display are Carter’s 2002 Nobel Peace Prize as well as his Grammy. The assortment of state gifts includes a wool tapestry depicting George Washington given by the Shah of Iran, a reproduction of the Crown of St. Stephen from the president of Hungary, a gold evening purse from the King of Morocco.
The museum is part of The Carter Center, which also houses the southeast’s only Presidential library, and one of 13 such facilities managed by the National Archives and Records Administration. The center is on 35 landscaped acres that include two small lakes, a rose garden and an exquisite Japanese Garden. The museum also hosts changing art exhibits, special events and lectures by an array of experts on international and domestic issues.
If you can’t get to Atlanta to see the museum in person, you can take a virtual tour of the Carter Museum online. You can also shop the museum's gift store online, for that Jimmy Carter Submarine cap you've always wanted.
- by Diane Loupe, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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