Albany Civil Rights Institute

The Albany Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) was created to commemorate the 1961 Civil Rights Movement in Albany and southwest Georgia. The Institutes serves as an educational resource for the community, the nation, and the world, and to tell the story of the Albany Movement.

In 2004, working with the City of Albany, ACRI developed a plan to expand from its current 2,500-square foot space in the Old Mount Zion Church into a new 12,315-square foot facility housing new exhibits, offices and storage space. Exhibitions were removed from the 1906 church building that has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995, and the building was returned to its civil rights movement-era appearance to serve as a program and event space. Through its exhibitions, programs, and archives, ACRI captures the stories of ordinary people who became effective change agents in their community.

Lord Cultural Resources was contracted to provide ongoing project direction services for the successful development of the infrastructure of the Museum. This service included oversight and direction of the project development team — architects, exhibition designers, and scholars — as well as creating a governance structure, developing staff and board, and the managing the endowment campaign.