By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Central Georgia > Bibb County > Macon

If you are looking for a place to view some extraordinary African American art, history and culture, consider taking a trip to Macon and the Tubman African American Museum.

Named for Harriet Tubman, the “Black Moses” who led hundreds of slaves to freedom, the Tubman Museum has grown over the years to become the largest institution of its type in the state and a key educational and cultural resource for the entire southeast region.

You’ll find a number of interesting permanent exhibits. “From Africa to America” is a pictorial collage that covers everything from historical events to people who made significant contributions to the history of African Americans. The Georgia Area Artist Gallery features popular works by Georgia based artists. Inventors Gallery features many items of our daily lives that were created by African Americans, including the ironing board, the ice cream scoot and the golf tee. The Folk Art Gallery contains works for notable African American folk artists. There is also an area for changing exhibits.

On display until July 25 is “Wini McQueen: The History of the Dream Project.” In 2000, the Tubman African American Museum commissioned textile artist Wini McQueen to produce a series of works of art to be installed in the rotunda of the Museum’s new facility in downtown Macon. The installation consists of more than 130 individual works of art that tell stories of the struggles and triumphs of a people and a community. This special exhibition features a selection of works from the project that pay homage to the individuals, institutions and organizations that have made a positive contribution to the quality of life in Macon, and who were instrumental in the founding and development of the Tubman African American Museum.

Besides its exhibitions and special events, the Tubman Museum also holds classes throughout the year, such as modern and African dance.

Read more about African American History, Macon and Bibb County, or find other activities in the Central Georgia Travel Region here at Browns Guides.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Southwest Georgia > Dougherty County > Albany

Albany was a major battleground in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and that story is told at the Albany Civil Rights Movement Museum at Old Mt. Zion Church.

Nationally noted as a key civil rights battleground of the early 1960s, Albany was one of the first cities where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the four major civil rights organizations – Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC), Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Committee on Racial Equality (CORE), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – joined forces.

The Albany Civil Rights Movement Museum at Old Mt. Zion Church, operated by the Albany Civil Rights Institute (ACRI), tells the compelling story of the Civil Rights Movement in Albany. The Albany Movement was an organization formed in 1961 to coordinate civil rights movement activities in the area. The group chose Mt. Zion Church as the site of their first mass meeting. A majestic church at the corner of Whitney Avenue and Jefferson Street, Mt. Zion Church had been built in 1906 by a congregation of former slaves, who had organized at the end of the Civil War. Mt. Zion Church continued to host the Albany Movement’s mass meetings, such as those in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to capacity crowds. (more…)

Georgia > Northeast Georgia Mountains > Hall County > Lake Lanier Islands

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

There is a lot of splashing going on at Lake Lanier’s Chattahoochee Rapids Beach and Water Park.

A part of the Lake Lanier Islands Resort located on the shores of Lake Sidney Lanier, Chattahoochee Rapids Beach and Water Park is a water park with a dozen rides and attractions that offers summer fun for everyone in the family.

Open now through Labor Day, the water park has a “Kiddie Lagoon” with age-appropriate waterslides and “Wiggle Waves,” a kid-sized wave pool, for the little ones. For the more adventuresome, there are 11 waterslides, including the Twister, SplashDown and Triple Threat; Georgia’s largest wave pool, Wild Waves; and the FunDunker, a water attraction equipped with more than 100 ways to get wet. There is also a half mile of white, sandy beach for anyone who just wants to relax away an afternoon. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Numerous exhibits and dioramas depicting the timeline of Southeastern Indians can be viewed at the Funk Heritage Center.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the Funk Heritage Center at Reinhardt College in Waleska is Georgia’s “Official Frontier and Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center,” and it lives up to its designation.

The Center consists of the Bennett History Museum – a 7,000-square-foot exhibit space with a theater and museum store – and an Appalachian Settlement with relocated authentic log cabins and other 19th century farm buildings. All total, the Center houses more than 6,000 artifacts donated by area collectors, most of them illustrative of the area’s many Indian cultures.

In the area of the museum known as the Long House, there are artifacts and text panels telling the story of the earliest encounters between Europeans and the people of the Southeast. You can also view a 15-minute film on the Southeastern Indians. In the Hall of Ancients exhibit area, you will see dioramas depicting the Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian and Historic periods as well as a timeline, maps and information about the Cherokee Indian removal from Georgia during the 1830s known as the Trail of Tears. The centerpiece of this area is a granite petroglyph that is 11 feet long, 5 feel wide and 1.5 feet thick. This ancient and mysterious carved rock was found years ago on a farm in the Hickory Log area of Cherokee County near the Etowah River about four miles north of Canton. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

The home once belonging to Cherokee Indian leader Major Ridge is now a museum and a designated site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. 

The Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home is a museum that tells the story of Cherokee Indian leader Major Ridge as well as Cherokee history and culture. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, it is also a site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Before white settlement, Georgia was home to the Cherokee and Creek Indians – the Cherokee basically living north of the Chattahoochee River and across North Georgia, the Creeks living south of this line. Living in a part of the state where the Creeks once lived, I am very familiar with the story of Creek Chief William McIntosh and how his own people murdered him after signing the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs, which ceded Creek land to the U.S. government. So it was very interesting to learn about Major Ridge and his rather parallel story as a member of the Cherokee Nation.

Sometime in the early 1800s, Ridge built a two-story dogtrot log cabin on the Oostanaula River near present day Rome. In 1828, the cabin was renovated into a white clapboard plantation home where Ridge and his family oversaw a ferry, trading post and a working plantation complete with numerous crops, orchards and slaves. (more…)

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Bring your mountain bike and enjoy the more than 17 miles of biking and hiking trails at Dauset Trails Nature Center. 

You’ll discover more than 1,200 scenic acres where you can enjoy nature in a peaceful, family-oriented setting of streams, creeks, lakes, fields, gardens and wildlife at Dauset Trails Nature Center in Jackson.

You’ll see mammals, birds of prey, reptiles and amphibians that are native to Georgia—black bear, osprey, red fox, coyote, river otter and red-tailed hawk to name a few.

Children will particularly like the Farm Animals area with its rustic barn, a variety of farm animals, old farming equipment, tools and wagons. Walk along the Woodland Garden Trail to see native azaleas and woodland wildflowers or through the Children’s Garden to see perennials and a knot garden. Lotus, water lily, goldfish and other aquatic wildlife can be found in the Lotus Pond. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

His grandparents home at 501 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta is where Martin Luther King, Jr., was born and lived until he was 12 years old. It is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue, or Sweet Auburn as the neighborhood around it is called, was one of the most prosperous and influential African-American communities in the country in the early 20th century, and the place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, raised, lived, worked, and worshiped and where he is buried. Much of the Sweet Auburn area is now part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

Begin your visit of the historic site at the National Park Service Visitor Center, where you can get a brief orientation of the site, sign up for a Birth Home tour and view various exhibits and videos. One particular exhibit, “Children of Courage,” is geared towards younger children, telling the story of the children of the Civil Rights Movement. Now through July 19, you can see an international art exhibit paying tribute to Dr. King. Seventy artists from every continent are featured in the “I Have a Dream” exhibition, where the common theme of the artwork is “the dream.” (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

At the St. Marys Aquatic Center, you’ll find lots of ways to cool off on a hot summer’s day along the Georgia coast.

If you’re looking for some summer fun with the kids, you might want to visit the St. Marys Aquatic Center.

Kids can splash to their heart’s content in the Splash Mountain/Kiddie Pool with its zero depth entry water playground with sprinklers, water cannons, and slides. Every five minutes a huge bucket dumps 300 gallons of water on everyone below – so there are lots of ways to get – and stay – wet! You can slide down the Orange Crush twister slide, cruise down the 500-feet-long lazy river called The Oasis, or swim some leisurely laps in the four-lane lap pool. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

More than 8,500 stars are projected to portray a realistic and beautiful starry night at the Rollins Planetarium at Young Harris College.

If you are in the Northeast Georgia Mountains looking for something to do or just want to pack up the family and drive to Young Harris for a unique evening, consider a trip to Rollins Planetarium on the Young Harris College campus.

The planetarium has state-of-the-art, full dome digital video technology. The 40-foot dome theater, one of the largest in Georgia, was upgraded last year with new digital video projectors to supplement the existing Chronos star projector.

On June 12 and 19 and July 10 and 17, the planetarium will present the show “The Cowboy Astronomer.” On their website, the planetarium says: (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

The removal of the Cherokee Indians from the North Georgia Mountain region is just one of the historical stories relayed at the Bartow History Museum.

If you want to get a glimpse into the history of Bartow County, the state of Georgia and the Southeastern United States, spend an afternoon at the Bartow History Museum. Located in Cartersville in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, this county museum tells the story of this historic and scenic area. The museum’s permanent, interactive exhibits span more than 200 years — Cherokee Indian life, the first white settlers, the establishment of Bartow County in 1832, Cherokee removal, Civil War, and the impact of national and global events on a northwest Georgia county and its people.

Hands-on history summer day camps for children are offered at the museum as well as lectures, featuring local and regional historians, authors and experts in various fields. The Lunch & Learn Lecture Series takes place the third Wednesday of each month while the Thursday Evening Lecture Series takes place the last Thursday of each month. (more…)