A new permanent exhibition at Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights is asking visitors to reconsider one of the most misunderstood periods in American history.
Titled “Broken Promises: The Legacy of the Reconstruction Era,” the exhibition examines the years following the Civil War, a moment marked by real gains for Black Americans, followed by organized backlash that reshaped democracy, media and civil rights in lasting ways.
Why Reconstruction — now
For decades, the Center’s exhibitions began their civil rights narratives in the 1950s. According to chief programs officer Kama Pierce, feedback from visitors and scholars made clear that understanding the modern Civil Rights Movement requires going further back to slavery, emancipation and the fragile promises of Reconstruction.
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