Atlanta History Center

This guide to the Atlanta History Center's Cyclorama painting starts in 1892 Atlanta, where a circular canvas of the Battle of Atlanta drew crowds cheering a Confederate victory that never actually happened. You'll hear how the real battle, fought that July, ended badly for the South, and how a Chattanooga businessman named Paul Atkinson, unhappy with what the canvas truly showed, had it altered before it ever reached Atlanta. Decades later, an Atlanta artist named Wilbur Kurtz quietly began undoing some of what Atkinson changed. Look closely at the men nearest you as you listen.