Southeast USA Museums and Culture

    Ava Gardner Museum, North Carolina

  325 E. Market Street - Smithfield, NC            
The Ava Gardner Museum is an interpretive museum which describes her life, from growing up near Smithfield, NC, to her discovery by Hollywood, her progress as an actress, her loves, her friends and her travels. A film star of Hollywood’s Golden Era, she was acclaimed as the world’s most beautiful woman was sought by both famous photographers and filmmakers to grace their film.
The Ava Gardner Museum is home to an extensive collection of historic documents, scripts, photographs, costumes, clothing and paintings. Each object in the museum was either owned by Ava Gardner or her family, used in her films or had a special meaning or relationship to Ava.
    Weatherspoon Art Museum, North Carolina
  UNC Greensboro - Greensboro, NC           
The Weatherspoon Art Museum at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has one of the foremost collections of modern and contemporary art in the Southeast. Through a dynamic annual calendar of exhibitions and educational programs, the Weatherspoon provides an opportunity for audiences to consider artistic, cultural, and social issues of the times, and enriches the life of the university and community.
    South Carolina Railroad Museum, South Carolina
  110 Industrial Park Road - Winnsboro, SC           
The South Carolina Railroad Museum's mission is the preservation and interpretation of railroading in South Carolina.
    Hartsville Museum, South Carolina
  222 North Fifth Street - Hartsville, SC           
Located at the corner of Fifth Street and Home Avenue, the Hartsville Museum and the Sculpture Courtyard anchor the cultural plaza in downtown Hartsville, SC. The museum, founded in 1980, is a local history museum. Housed in a 1930’s Post Office Building, the museum has kept many of the unique architectural features of the building. The skylight, original to the building, has been retrofitted with stained glass panels depicting the flora and fauna significant to the area. The Sculpture Courtyard added in 2000 features many different types of sculpture. The Showcase Gallery presents special exhibits focusing on history, the arts or present day events.
    Union County Museum, South Carolina
  127 West Main Street - Union, SC           
The Mission of the Union County Museum is: To discover, identify and collect the archives, and genealogical and historical materials which may help to establish and illustrate the history of Union County, South Carolina. To provide for the preservation of such material and for its accessibility, as far as may be feasible, to all who wish to examine or study it. To serve as a focal point for the dissemination of information regarding Union County, South Carolina and its history.
    Georgia Museum of Natural History, Georgia
  University of Georgia - Athens, GA           
The science portion of the museum has fourteen different collections in Archaeology, Arthropod, Botany Herbarium, Economic Geology, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Invertebrate, Mammalogy, Mycological Herbarium, Ornithology, Paleontology, Pollen and Plant Microspore, Rocks and Minerals, and Zooarchaeology as well as more than 325,000 alcohol-preserved fish specimens. In addition, there are exhibits, archives, and entertainment for children.[4] Its more than four million objects makes it one of the largest museums in the Southeast. Source
    Ritz Theatre & LaVilla Museum, Florida
  829 N. Davis Street - Jacksonville, FL           
The Ritz Theatre & LaVilla Museum Celebrates the rich legacy of the African-American community that thrived in LaVilla for more than 100 years. The theatre and museum are revered as the premiere cultural institution in Jacksonville, Florida, showcasing art, music, drama, poetry, and African American history.
The stories and legends of LaVilla, known as the "Harlem of the South," live on within the walls of the refurbished museum and theatre. Ritz Theatre & LaVilla Museum is committed to reclaiming the past, celebrating the present, and embracing the future.
    Miami Art Museum, Florida
  101 West Flagler St. - Miami, FL           
Museum Park Miami is the City of Miami's official design vision for Bicentennial Park, an underused 29-acre, waterfront City-owned park on Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami. MAM and Miami Science Museum worked with the City through its public design process to help create this vision. The bond issue approved by the City's electorate in 2001 provided the seed funds for the museums' projects. The Museum Park project will return this neglected park to the citizens of the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County.
    Country Doctor Museum, North Carolina
  P.O. Box 34 - Bailey, NC           
The Country Doctor Museum invites people of all ages to visit and learn about the history of rural health care in the United States. Docents lead tours through three buildings of exhibits and are available to answer questions. Exhibits contain artifacts relevant to the practice of medicine between the late 18th century and the first half of the 20th century. The Country Doctor Museum is the oldest museum in the United States dedicated to the history of America's rural health care. It was created in 1967 by a group of energetic women from North Carolina, whose initial interest was to build a lasting memorial for rural physicians. Over the decades, the Museum's collection grew to over 5,000 medical artifacts and many volumes of historic texts gathered from across the nation. The interpretive range also expanded from rural doctors to include topics such as nursing, pharmaceuticals, and home remedies.
    Carolinas Aviation Museum, North Carolina
  4108 Minuteman Way - Charlotte, NC           
The Carolinas Historic Aviation Commission was founded in 1992 with the purpose of preserving the aviation heritage of North and South Carolina. The Commission operates the Carolinas Aviation Museum , the Carolinas Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Dolph Overton Aviation Library as part of it mission.
The Museum and the Library are located at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
    New World of Coca­Cola, Georgia
  121 Baker Street NW - Atlanta, GA           
"The NEW World of Coca­Cola is the only place where visitors can explore the complete story—past, present and future—of the world's best-known brand! For over 120 years, we've been putting our secret formula into bottles. Now, we've put it all in one amazing place—the NEW World of Coca­Cola.
With 62,000 square feet of guest areas, the NEW World of Coca­Cola is approximately twice the size of the previous World of Coca­Cola.
We will feature more than 1,200 artifacts from around the world that have never been displayed to the public before. In fact, only about 50 artifacts from the previous World of Coca­Cola will be showcased at the NEW World of Coca­Cola.
A visit of the entire facility lasts an average of 90 minutes."
    Lane Motor Museum, Tennessee
  702 Murfreesboro Pike - Nashville, TN           
In 2002, Jeff and Susan Lane established Lane Motor Museum. Jeff has been an automotive enthusiast since an early age. He began restoring his first car—a 1955 MG TF—when he was a teen. His personal collection was the donation that began the foundation. Lane Motor Museum unveiled its collection to the public in October of 2003. As director, Jeff Lane continues to search out cars for the collection that are technically significant or uniquely different. The goal of Lane Motor Museum is to share in the mission of collection and preserving automotive history for future generations.
The Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
    South Florida Museum, Florida
  201 10th Street West - Bradenton, FL           
The South Florida Museum, in accordance with its mission, endeavors to be a premier regional museum of natural and cultural history.The Museum's mission to preserve, interpret, and communicate – through collections, exhibitions, and educational programs – scientific and cultural knowledge of Florida, the world, and our universe.
    The Gibbes Museum, South Carolina
  135 Meeting Street - Charleston, SC           
The mission of the Carolina Art Association (the Gibbes Museum of Art) is to offer through collection, exhibition and interpretation a thorough knowledge of the visual culture of Charleston, the Lowcountry and the American South from the colonial era through today.
    Creative Discovery Museum, Tennessee
  321 Chestnut Street - Chattanooga, TN           
Creative Discovery Museum is recognized as one of the premier hands-on children's museums in the region. Gather the young and young-at-heart and make plans now to visit us at Creative Discovery Museum. Whether it's for a couple of hours or a whole day, time spent at the Museum is sure to be worthwhile learning for the whole family.
    Museum of Southern History, The, Florida
  4304 Herschel St. - Jacksonville, FL           
Established to maintain and perpetuate an educational facility for those who are interested in the history of the United States, its early problems and difficulties in becoming the Nation it is today. The museum is dedicated to historical accuracy in presenting the lifestyle and culture of the Antebellum South, a unique civilization, misunderstood by many, belittled and misrepresented by some, but deeply revered by the grateful descendants of the brave men and women whose sacrifices and dedication to a cause that created a chapter in our nation’s history that is unmatched. Special attention is given to the education of young people as groups of school children are given basic education in our nation’s history in the hope that they will better understand and perhaps develop an interest in learning more about their history.
    Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Georgia
  767 Clifton Road, N.E. - Atlanta, GA           
Only at Fernbank Museum can you come face-to-face with the world’s largest dinosaurs, explore the development of life on Earth through the landscapes of present-day Georgia, connect with cultures from around the globe, engage in a variety of hands-on exhibitions and more! And you won’t want to miss stunning rotating special exhibitions or the incredible 5-story experience of an IMAX® film.
    Mississippi Museum of Art, Mississippi
  201 East Pascagoula Street - Jackson, MS           
    High Museum of Art, Georgia
  1280 Peachtree Street, NE - Atlanta, GA           
From a stately home on Peachtree Street to its current award-winning buildings in a spectacular setting, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta has grown to become the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States with its renowned collection of classic and contemporary art and renowned architecture by Richard Meier and Renzo Piano.
    Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee
  1050 World’s Fair Park - Knoxville, TN           
The KMA’s predecessor, the Dulin Gallery of Art, opened in 1961 in a beaux-arts mansion in West Knoxville. By the middle 1980s the Dulin had outgrown its quarters, and a major community effort raised $11 million for a new museum in downtown Knoxville at the site of the 1982 World’s Fair. The Knoxville Museum of Art opened in March 1990 in a state-of-the-art, 53,200 square-foot facility designed by renowned museum architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. The building, clad in Tennessee marble, is named in honor of local philanthropist Jim Clayton, the largest donor to the building fund.
    Frank H. McClung Museum, Tennessee
  1327 Circle Park Drive - Knoxville, TN           
The museum is an important component of The University of Tennessee, and participates in the implementation of the University's mission. The University of Tennessee is committed to the development of individuals and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. This is to be accomplished through teaching, scholarship, artistic creation, public service, and professional practice.
The complementary mission of the Frank H. McClung Museum is to advance understanding and appreciation of the earth and its peoples through the collection, preservation, study, interpretation, and exhibition of objects and data. The Museum is dedicated to the support of the academic programs of The University and to the attraction and education of the broadest spectrum of participants.
    Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
  2000 Eighth Avenue Nort - Birmingham, AL           
    Delta Blues Museum, Mississippi
  #1 Blues Alley - P.O. Box 459 - Clarksdale, MS           
    Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Mississippi
  510 Washington Avenue - Ocean Springs, MS           
    Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Alabama
  P.O. Box 727 - Calera, AL