Oglethorpe University will once again be featured in the Atlanta Preservation Center’s annual Phoenix Flies: A Celebration of Atlanta’s Historic Sites.
This three-week long event, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this March, works with nearly 100 “Preservation Partners” to offer over 200 events each year. Phoenix Flies provides an opportunity to learn about the history and culture of Atlanta through a variety of events such as walking tours of historic neighborhoods and lectures on preservation.
This year, University Library Director Eli Arnold ’06 will lead a walking tour focused on the history of Oglethorpe’s campus. Originally chartered in 1835 outside of Milledgeville, GA, Oglethorpe has a rich — and sometimes unusual — history, which includes the first modern time capsule and an on-campus elephant burial.
After relocating to Atlanta in 1870 and expanding its curriculum, Oglethorpe was officially re-chartered in 1913 and found its home on Peachtree Road. The campus, which is known for its Collegiate Gothic buildings, is registered as a Georgia Historical Marker. To learn more, visit the Atlanta Preservation Center event page for the walking tour of the OU campus on Wednesday, March 22 at 2:00 p.m.
Phoenix Flies: A Celebration of Atlanta’s Historic Sites was created in 2003 by the Atlanta Preservation Center as a way to celebrate the anniversary of the dramatic rescue of the Fox Theatre, an event that changed Atlanta’s preservation perspective forever. Phoenix Flies 2023 is celebrating 20 years of bringing organizations and individuals from the community together to demonstrate the value of Atlanta’s historic built environment.
Other noteworthy tours in the line-up include the Atlanta Studies’ The Rap Map and Imagined Geographies led by Brennan Collins, the City of Roswell’s Historic District Tour, and Emory University’s Arts and Social Justice Fellowship exhibit.
The events and guided tours are running from March 4-26. For a full itinerary of this year’s Phoenix Flies, visit the Atlanta Preservation Center website.
