Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, Atlanta

The Margaret Mitchell House and Museum offers a focused look into the life of the author of “Gone with the Wind” and the Atlanta that shaped her work. The site places visitors in the social and cultural landscape of the early 20th century, tracing Margaret Mitchell’s background, career, and the publication of a novel that became one of the most influential books in American literature.

The historic “house” itself is actually the first-floor apartment where Mitchell lived with her husband in the early 1930s. The interior has been recreated with period-appropriate furnishings to reflect the modest setting in which she wrote much of Gone with the Wind. Although the objects on display were not owned by Mitchell, the apartment conveys the everyday domestic environment she once jokingly referred to as “The Dump”, as the apartment was small, plain, and far from fashionable, especially by the standards of Atlanta society at the time.

Following its reopening in 2024, the museum’s interpretation now centers on the exhibition “Telling Stories: Gone with the Wind and American Memory”. As you enter the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, you begin in the interpretive gallery spaces that introduce Margaret Mitchell’s life and the Atlanta of the early 20th century. Exhibits here provide background on her career as a journalist, the social environment she moved in, and the circumstances that led to the writing of Gone with the Wind. From here, you move into the recreated first-floor apartment. To your left, is the living room, furnished with period-appropriate decor.

After exploring the apartment, the visit continues in the museum’s exhibition area, which examines the novel’s cultural impact and directly addresses how it shaped popular narratives about slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Finally, proceed to a separate building behind the apartment. Here, you’ll find documentary footage on the making of the 1939 film adaptation, original casting material, and visual coverage of the Atlanta premiere through photographs, newsreels, and newspaper articles. The visit is primarily self-guided, supported by a free audio tour available.