Located in Atlanta and founded in 1835, Oglethorpe University, one of the earliest denominational institutions in the South, is an independent, highly-selective, coeducational liberal arts institution of just over 1,100 students from more than 34 different states and 36 different countries emphasizing the preparation of the humane generalist needed by a complex and changing society.
Located on the beautiful, heavily-Gothic campus of Oglethorpe University, you’ll find the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, located on the top floor of historic Lowry Hall, a renowned museum offering a wide range of cultural displays, from antiquity to modern art. The museum also achieved renown for a series of shows on far eastern art.
The museum is also home to the Crypt of Civilization, perhaps the best known of all of Jacobs’ innovations. The first and most complete time capsule ever created, which he proposed in the November 1936 issue of Scientific American, this prototype for the modern time capsule was an effort to provide, for posterity, an encyclopedic inventory of life and customs from ancient times through the middle of the 20th century. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Crypt of Civilization is the “the first successful attempt to bury a record for future inhabitants.” Sealed in the foundation of Phoebe Hearst Hall in 1940, is not to be opened until 8113 A.D. And if that wasn’t enough, Oglethorpe University is also the home to the International Time Capsule Society, a repository of time capsule projects worldwide.
The art isn’t only in the museums, but all around you. Many of the buildings in this area are of an historical nature. In 1994, Lupton Hall, Phoebe Hearst Hall, Lowry Hall and Hermance Stadium (Also home of the St. Pius X baseball team) were added to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, a historic district including part or all of the 100-acre (0.40 km2) campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Just a short five-minute car trip up Peachtree Road from Buckhead, the museum and university, are just a few of the many attractions in the Brookhaven area of Atlanta, a quiet residential neighborhood and considered one of the city’s prettiest.
If you find yourself in this area in early February, you might be able to watch the Oglethorpe Day celebrations on campus. The events celebrate the anniversary of James Oglethorpe’s founding of the colony of Georgia. The annual “Petrels of Fire” race, an homage to Trinity College’s Great Court Run portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire, features students attempting to run the 270-yard (250 m) perimeter of the Academic Quad before the Lupton Hall belltower finishes its noon chimes.
The Brookhaven neighborhood is one of Atlanta’s most desirable and sought after locations.