Summer Camp
The Atlanta Preservation Center welcomes elementary-aged students from the City of Refuge, in collaboration with a number of community and preservation partners each summer for a week of fun! Our camp is based out of the L.P. Grant Mansion (APC headquarters) where we learn about the importance of historic preservation starting at the oldest house in the city of Atlanta (c.1856). We host up to 30 students, and they are introduced to historic preservation through hands-on learning and by visiting historic spaces and hearing stories of the past.
Historic Spaces we visit include Grant Park, The Plaza Theatre, Madame C.J. Walker Museum, The Capitol Museum, the Wren’s Nest and the “FABULOUS” FOX — to name just a few.
We are very grateful for our partnership with Zoo Atlanta where we spend afternoons exploring while talking about the architecture and habitats of the Zoo.
This camp is free to these children through the kindness of our wonderful sponsors and APC sponsors, and it is run by volunteers — some are certified and experienced elementary school teachers. Thank you so much for contributing to this unforgettable experience for these amazing children.
Summer Camp - 2024
The Georgia State Capitol, built in 1889 is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
The Fox Theater opened in 1920 and is listed on the National Register of historic places .
Zoo Atlanta — a nationally recognized animal habitat — Zoo Atlanta can be traced to its beginning as the Grant Park Zoo, established in 1889 from the remnants of a traveling circus.
Grant Park , established in 1895 when L.P Grant donated the land to the city. It is the oldest park in Atlanta and is surrounded by Victorian homes. This postcard shows what it would have looked like in 1909.
Thank you to Our Wonderful 2024 Sponsors:
In honor of Sally Kansas (1946 – 2024)
Some of our Past Summer Camp Excursions:
We visited the Madame C.J. Walker Museum and learned about America’s first female self-made millionaire and African American philanthropist. The museum is also home to WERD studio, the first black-owned radio station in America.
The children danced to old vinyl records and got to meet and sing “Celebrate” with Chicago Mike, a member of Kool and the Gang! Thank you Ricci and Biondi de Forest for a memorable morning.
We visited the Wrens Nest, Atlanta’s oldest house museum. After listening to a wonderful storyteller we toured the house. The Wrens Nest, who participated in the Mayor’s Summer Reading Club gave each child a beautiful book.
We spent one morning visiting Atlanta’s oldest movie theater, the Plaza, in operation since 1939 and got a behind-the-scenes look at how a movie theater works. We also saw how a concession stand works and sampled some popcorn!
Thank you so much to Chris and Nicole Escobar and the wonderful team at the Plaza Theatre for an unforgettable experience.
Visiting the Plaza Theatre the children had a lesson on film and watched clips of a 1961 Yogi Bear cartoon. They also watched silent films accompanied on the organ by the amazing Ken Double who plays the organ at the Fox Theatre. A big thank you to the Plaza Theatre.
