Jimmy Carter Library and Museum

We visited the Carter Center on Jan 6, 2026 as part of Road Scholar's "The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham" program. It is the home of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Access to the library is by appointment only. Tickets to the museum were covered by our program.

Upon entering the Carter Center, the first thing we did was lunch at the Kitchen at Copenhill cafe. The cuisine was all-American, and decent enough. By the time I began exploring the museum proper, we had 100 minutes to spare. The way to the museum was into the gift shop, and then through either auditoriums A or B. The Carter Center is (so far) the only museum I've been to where the gift shop comes before the galleries. Given the limited time, I got to see three of the gallery sections.

The first gallery section, aptly named "The Man From Plains", covers Carter's years before becoming POTUS. Exhibits cover his relationships with various people ("Black And White"), farming background ("Farm Family"), small-town education ("A Plains Education"), naval career ("A Career Officer?"), religious upbringing ("A Man Of Faith"), and courtship and marriage ("Jimmy And Rosalyn"). Easily my favorite section of the galleries, I got to appreciate (profoundly) Carter the person, human being and humanitarian. (Footages of this section are found on my YouTube channel in playlist "2026-1: The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham", titled "Day 3: Jimmy Carter Museum, Part 1 - The Man From Plains".)

The next gallery section is my least favorite, and not just because Carter wasn't all that great a POTUS. It covers the 1976 presidential election and his only term of office from 1977 to 1981. Exhibits include "The '76 Campaign", "The Walk Down Pennsylvania Avenue", "Inaugural Celebration" (including the Bible used in the swearing-in ceremony), the Oval Office (during the Carter administration), "Camp David Accords", and "Final Year - Two White Houses". No surprise that the focus is on the achievements than the failures. As photos the posted by others on Google show, there is apparently more that I didn't see because I wasn't aware of them. Wish I had a map of the museum.

The final gallery section is my second favorite. It covers Carter's humanitarian work post-presidency, and is wonderfully illustrated by exhibits "Nineteen Eighties... Nineteen Nineties... Two Thousand and Beyond", "Building Hope", "Renewing Spirits", "Waging Peace" and "Recognition from Home and Abroad". The latter displays numerous accolades including a Grammy award, a Gates award, a Nobel Peace Prize, and (with Rosalynn) two Presidential Medals of Freedom. Situated near a window is the presidential lectern (supposedly) from the Carter administration where visitors can take photos of and with it. I took three of myself standing in front it. There is more that I didn't see because I wanted to go to the koi pond, but time had ran out.

(Footages of the last two sections are found in "Day 3: Jimmy Carter Museum, Part 2 - Presidency & Post-Presidency". Same channel and playlist.)

If I had more time, I would see the rest of the museum's content, the koi pond, the Japanese garden, and the Jimmy Carter bust near the museum entrance. What I did see impressed me so much that I'm adding presidential museums as places of interest for future travels. I recommend spending at least half a day to appreciate the museum and grounds of the Carter Center.