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(PHOTOS) DeKalb History Center celebrates county’s 200th birthday

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(PHOTOS) DeKalb History Center celebrates county’s 200th birthday

DeKalb History Center Archivist Jennifer Blomqvist lights the candles on a cake during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the county’s bicentennial and the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.
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By Dean Hesse, contributor 

Decatur, GA — The DeKalb History Center celebrated DeKalb County’s bicentennial and the opening of its new exhibition commemorating more than 200 years of DeKalb’s history on Thursday, Aug. 25 with a birthday bash reception and opening of a time capsule that was sealed back in 1997. DeKalb County was established as Georgia’s 56th county in 1822.

Melissa Carlson, DeKalb History Center executive director, said the exhibition is open to the public Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Dekalb History Center is located at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse on the Decatur Square, 101 E. Court Square. For information, visit dekalbhistory.org.

A time capsule sealed in 1997 was opened during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Articles on display in DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history include items from the Doraville GM assembly plant and memorabilia from the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Georgia State Representative Billy Mitchell, on right, checks out DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Soil collected from documented lynching sites in DeKalb County are displayed in the new DeKalb History Center exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history. “Our shared combined history is not always worthy of being celebrated,” DeKalb History Center Executive Director Melissa Carlson said. “We are acknowledging some of the harder parts of Dekalb’s history in hopes that people learn something new that they didn’t know.” Photo by Dean Hesse.

The new DeKalb History Center exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history includes items from the area’s Indigenous peoples. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Retired DeKalb County school teacher Jean Lovett tours the DeKalb History Center museum during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of the center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

(l-r) Geoffrey Lofter, Amanda McAbee, Laura Ramos and Terra Washington from Decide DeKalb pose for a photo during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Sisters Mary-Lamont Roberts and Kimberly Roberts pose wearing their party hats and glasses during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

(l-r) Georgia State Representative Becky Evans, DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and city of Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett attend a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond speaks during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

DeKalb History Center Executive Director Melissa Carlson smiles after a time capsule sealed in 1997 is opened during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

DeKalb History Center Archivist Jennifer Blomqvist shows a rock from Lithonia, one of the items that was removed from a time capsule sealed in 1997 during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

DeKalb History Center Archivist Jennifer Blomqvist shows one of the items removed from a time capsule sealed in 1997, a T-shirt showing the Atlanta Journal-Constitution front page after the city was chosen to be the site of the 1996 Olympic Games, during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

David Payne, associate vice president for Planning and Engagement at Emory University, who won a raffle to help open a time capsule sealed in 1997, shows a Waffle House menu signed by employees during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

DeKalb History Center Archivist Jennifer Blomqvist holds a bottle of Coca-Cola, one of the items removed from a time capsule sealed in 1997, during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Historian Jennie Richardson, on left, who authored books on Olmstead’s Linear Park and Druid Hills, and historian and genealogist Ken Thomas, who writes a genealogy column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution watch as items are removed from a time capsule sealed in 1997 during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Christine Fonville, a reporter for The Champion newspaper and her husband Scott Bitterman check out artifacts removed from a time capsule sealed in 1997 during a birthday bash reception at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse celebrating the opening of DeKalb History Center’s new exhibition commemorating over 200 years of DeKalb County history on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

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