Patriotism museum in Atlanta reopens

More than seven years after the 9/11 attacks, the events of that day still bring tears to the eyes of visitors to the newly reopened National Museum of Patriotism in downtown Atlanta.

Katharine Burnette, a 17-year-old from Roswell, and her mother, Melanie Eyre, were at the museum on its re-opening day Sunday, viewing a partially finished exhibit on the 2001 terror attacks.

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CURTIS COMPTON / ccompton@ajc.com

The National Museum of Patriotism opened in its new downtown Atlanta location on Sunday.

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“Some of it touched my heart a little, especially the 9/11,” Burnette said. “It stinks when the planes hit the buildings.”

The museum closed its former location, on Spring Street in Midtown, in October 2007, and reopened Sunday morning at 275 Baker St., in what’s fast becoming the center of Atlanta’s museum universe — across the street from Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia Aquarium, and near the World of Coca-Cola, Imagine It! Children’s Museum of Atlanta and CNN Center.

Visitors to the interactive collections can walk through “The Immigrant Experience,” anchored by a 25-foot-tall Statue of Liberty torch. They can run their hands down a piece of salvaged bronze railing and see old Ellis Island bricks where their ancestors might have stepped.

A “Hall of Patriots” — Helen Keller, Ronald Reagan and Rosa Parks — has been expanded to include recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Other exhibits are “The Founding Fathers,” “The Tuskegee Airmen,” and “Patriotism in Entertainment.”

“We want you to define for yourself what patriotism means to you,” said

Jim Balster, director of exhibits and vice chairman of the museum, said it tries to “show how others express patriotism.”

Visitors are met by a large foam sculpture of American symbols — Mount Rushmore, the Iwo Jima flag raising and an American eagle, all weaved throughout the stars and stripes. Once inside, visitors are encouraged to follow their own paths from one exhibit to the next.

“We’re not a history museum,” Balster said, adding that his museum explores all aspects of patriotism, past and present.

Nick Snider, a retired UPS executive and founder of the museum, worried several years ago that Americans were “falling out of love with their country.”

So he decided to create the museum, jump-starting it with his collection of wartime “sweetheart” jewelry — pins, earrings and lockets sent by soldiers to their girlfriends and wives — from World War II and later.

Snider was putting the finishing touches on his collection Saturday. He beamed at the bustle around him.

“It’s inspirational, emotional and truly relevant,” Snider said as he stood in the Hall of Patriots.

Some exhibits, such as “Covert Patriotism” — highlighting the CIA, Navy Seals and other special ops organizations — and “One America,” with artifacts from the 9/11 attack, are still under construction.

Snider started the museum with $2 million of his own money. Other major funders include Bank of America, Bellsouth, Comcast, Georgia Power and UPS as well as private donors. Using Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau calculations, the museum estimates it could have up to 500,000 visitors a year.

Burnette’s mother Eyre, who described herself as a liberal Democrat, said visitors will not get a skewed view of politics.

“I think this appeals to people of all political persuasions,” she said. “It’s not slanted to any one group; it’s for everyone.”