Causes: Arts & Culture, History Museums

Mission: Our purpose is to ensure that continuing generations receive a solid grounding in their past, a sense of place in the present, and the knowledge to create a better future for themselves and their community.

Programs: Exhibit galleries: 1. Land of promise our signature exhibition tells personal stories of those who have lived in northeast georgia. From the first to arrive thousands of years ago, to the coming of european settlement, to the modernizing forces of railroads and industry, learn about the trials and triumphs of the people who have called this unique region home. 2. Mathis folk art gallery the folk pottery exhibit highlights both historic and contemporary works from notable northeast georgia artisans from the 19th century to the present. See schedule o for more information about exhibit galleries. Information about exhibit galleries (continued from page 2) 3. Ed dodd & mark trail telling the story of mark trail, an adventure comic strip dedicated to preserving the environment, this exhibit features artifacts from the strip's creator, gainesville native ed dodd 4. Northeast georgia sports hall of fame a tribute to those from northeast georgia who's athletic abilities have achieved national recognition . 5. Changing exhibits whether highlighting items from the history center's collections or a traveling exhibit from another institution, this gallery presents 2-3 new rotating exhibits each year. B. White path cabin white path was a regional cherokee leader who played an important role in his tribe's history before his death on the trail of tears. In his home you can see what life was like for both the cherokee indians and early white settlers in this cabin which was originally built in 1780. C. Herrin black smith shop an 1870s cabin converted into a blacksmith shop shows the continuity of america's oldest craft using displays and live demonstrations. D. American freedom garden a beautifully landscaped garden that pays tribute to all veterans of the united states armed forces who have preserved the gift of freedom. E. Fockele victory garden in partnership with the hall county master gardners, this active reproduction of a wwii-era garden tells hands-on story of agriculture in northeast georgia year-round. F. Historic collections the core of our exhibit and preservation efforts, the history center's collection of over 15,000 artifacts are used in exhibits and by researchers. Ranging from ancient indian pottery shards to modern vehicles, proper care and display of these treasures is of utmost importance.

educational programming and outreach (sharing): a. Family days with over 2,000 annual attendees, our most popular regular program, family day is bi-monthly and is made available to the public at no cost. Each family day highlights a particular theme and period of history and features theatre, hands-on activities, costumed interpretation, focused gallery tours, and take-home crafts for everyone. B. Forums a monthly lecture series on a variety of historical topics, this program aimed at adults reaches over 800 people per year. See schedule o for more information about educational programming & outreach. Additional educational programming and outreach (continued from page 2): c. Field trips around 1,500 students visit the history center each year for general and specialized tours tied directly to georgia curriculum standards. D. Summer camps each year the history center hosts two sessions of summer camps, allowing 40 attendees a year to participate in an immersive learning experience unlike anything else in the state. E. Travel trunks with field trips becoming more of a challenge for schools around the country, our travel trunks are a "museum in a box" that can travel to the classroom. The four topics available are: the cherokee indians; revolution to removal; the civil war; and world war ii. Inside each trunk are numerous resources such as books, worksheets, maps, audio- visual material, and a wide variety of hands-on artifacts to use, period clothing to try on, and professionally developed curriculum guide that ties the artifacts and activities directly to state educational standards. This increasingly popular educational tool reaches almost 10,000 students per year. F. Community outreach each year the history center does numerous special presentations on a wide range of topics for public and private schools, community organizations, universities, and other museums and historical institutions. These can be as simple as an informative lecture by topic experts, to walking tours of historic districts, to full displays with artifacts, hands-on activities, and theatrically-based first- and third- person interpretation. G. Community partnerships the history center prides itself on working closely with other groups and institutions to further education and quality of life throughout the region. As such, we regularly participate in numerous special projects with a variety of institutions such as brenau university, university of north georgia, quinlan visual arts center, elachee nature center, locally grown, hall county master gardners, ava white academy, historic westville, the chieftan's museum, the bandy heritage center at dalton state college, sautee nacoochee community association, and the folk pottery museum of northeast georgia.