How to Explore the Atlanta West End Athena Extension

The Atlanta West End Athena Extension is a dynamic digital and cultural initiative designed to preserve, interpret, and expand public access to the rich historical, architectural, and social legacy of the West End neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. While the term Athena Extension may initially suggest a mythological or software-based reference, in this context, it refers to a community-driven digital platform and physical exploration framework that integrates archival data, geospatial mapping, oral histories, and augmented reality (AR) experiences to bring the past to life for residents, scholars, and visitors alike.

This initiative is not a single app or website, but rather a layered ecosystem of tools, curated content, and guided pathways that enable users to explore the West Ends evolutionfrom its origins as a freedmens community after the Civil War to its role in the Civil Rights Movement and its current resurgence as a hub of artistic and economic revitalization. Understanding how to navigate and engage with the Athena Extension is essential for anyone seeking an authentic, immersive experience of one of Atlantas most historically significant neighborhoods.

Unlike generic tourist apps or static historical markers, the Athena Extension is built on participatory curation, meaning that its content is continually enriched by community contributions, academic research, and local storytelling. This makes it a living archivea digital extension of the neighborhoods physical landscape. Whether you're a historian, a resident, a student, or a curious traveler, learning how to explore the Athena Extension opens doors to narratives that are rarely documented in mainstream media or traditional guidebooks.

This guide provides a comprehensive, step-by-step roadmap to fully engage with the Athena Extension. From initial access to advanced interaction techniques, youll learn how to maximize your experience, avoid common pitfalls, and contribute meaningfully to the projects ongoing development.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Understand the Athena Extensions Core Components

Before you begin exploring, familiarize yourself with the four primary pillars of the Athena Extension:

• Historical Map Layer An interactive, time-enabled GIS map that overlays historic property records, street layouts, and building footprints from 1870 to the present.
• Oral History Archive A searchable database of audio and video interviews with longtime residents, business owners, educators, and activists.
• AR Experience Nodes Physical locations in the West End where smartphone-based augmented reality triggers reveal 3D reconstructions of historic buildings, events, or??.
• Community Contributions Portal A platform where users can upload photos, documents, stories, or corrections to existing entries.

Each component is accessible through the central Athena Extension web portal at athenaextension.org/westend. There is no standalone mobile appeverything is optimized for modern web browsers on both desktop and mobile devices.

Step 2: Create a Free User Account

To unlock full functionalityincluding the ability to save favorite locations, contribute content, and receive guided tour alertsyou must register for a free account. Visit athenaextension.org/westend/login and click Create Account.

You will be asked to provide:

• A valid email address
• A username (no real name required)
• Optional: Your connection to the West End (e.g., former resident, researcher, visitor)

Verification is sent via email. Once confirmed, you gain access to personalized dashboards, including your exploration history and contribution status.

Step 3: Navigate the Interactive Historical Map

From your dashboard, select Explore the Map. The interface loads a layered Google Maps-style interface with historical overlays.

Key controls:

• Time Slider Drag the slider to view how the neighborhood changed decade by decade. Buildings that no longer exist appear as ghost outlines.
• Layer Toggle Enable/disable layers such as Civil Rights Sites, Black-Owned Businesses (19201970), or Railroad Infrastructure.
• Building Tags Click any structure to see its original name, owner, function, and associated oral history clips.

For example, zooming to 1910 and enabling the Black-Owned Businesses layer reveals the location of the former West End Drug Store, owned by Dr. William H. Lewis, a prominent physician and community leader. Clicking the marker plays a 4-minute interview with his granddaughter, who recalls delivering medicine on foot during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Step 4: Activate AR Experience Nodes

There are currently 17 designated AR nodes throughout the West End. To use them:

1. Enable location services on your smartphone.
2. Open your browser and navigate to athenaextension.org/westend/ar.
3. Tap Start AR Tour and grant camera permissions.
4. Walk or drive slowly through the neighborhood. When you approach a node (within 1530 feet), a visual cue appears on screena glowing blue circle with a Greek letter ? (Theta).
5. Point your phone at the node location. The AR overlay will appear: a 3D reconstruction of the building as it looked in 1945, accompanied by ambient sounds (e.g., streetcar bells, church choirs, or market chatter).

Notable AR nodes include:

• 1001 West End Avenue Former site of the West End Library, established in 1898 by the Womens Civic League. AR shows volunteers sorting donated books under gas lamps.
• Corner of Ralph David Abernathy Blvd and Jackson St Site of a 1965 sit-in protest. AR overlays footage of the original demonstration with audio of speeches.
• 1340 West End Ave The former home of Dr. Lucy Hargrett, Atlantas first Black female physician. AR displays her 1920s medical office, complete with antique instruments and patient records.

Pro Tip: Use AR nodes during daylight hours for best visual clarity. Some nodes require specific weather conditions (e.g., no heavy rain) to trigger properly.

Step 5: Search and Consume Oral Histories

From your dashboard, click Oral Histories. The archive contains over 210 interviews, indexed by keyword, date, location, and subject.

Use advanced filters to narrow results:

• Filter by Interviewee Occupation ? Teacher, Minister, Business Owner
• Filter by Era ? Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Post-1990s
• Search phrases like school desegregation, redlining, or West End Farmers Market

Each entry includes:

• A transcript (searchable)
• Location pin on the map
• Related photographs (if donated)
• Tags for related events or people

Example search: West End School yields interviews with former students who describe walking miles to attend segregated schools before the 1954 Brown v. Board decision, and how the West End School became a center of community organizing.

Step 6: Contribute Your Own Content

The Athena Extension thrives on community input. If you have:

• Old photographs of West End buildings or events
• Family stories tied to specific addresses
• Documents like letters, receipts, or newspaper clippings
• Audio recordings of relatives speaking about the neighborhood

You can upload them via the Contribute Portal at athenaextension.org/westend/contribute.

Guidelines:

• Include metadata: date, location, names of people, context.
• Ensure you own the rights to the material or have permission from the copyright holder.
• Submissions are reviewed by a volunteer editorial board within 710 business days.
• Accepted contributions are credited to your username and linked to the relevant map location.

One user, a retired teacher from Decatur, uploaded a 1952 yearbook photo of her class outside the West End Elementary School. The image was matched to an existing oral history and now appears in both the map and the archive, connecting two previously unrelated narratives.

Step 7: Create and Share Custom Tours

Once youve explored several nodes and oral histories, use the Build Your Tour tool to curate a personalized path.

Steps:

1. Click Create Tour from your dashboard.
2. Search and add locations (map pins, AR nodes, oral history markers).
3. Arrange them in chronological or thematic order.
4. Add a title and description (e.g., From Emancipation to Empowerment: 100 Years of Black Leadership in the West End).
5. Save and share via link or QR code.

Custom tours can be public or private. Public tours appear in the Community Tours section and may be featured on the homepage. Some have been adopted by local high schools as part of history curricula.

Step 8: Attend Guided Walks and Virtual Events

The Athena Extension team hosts monthly in-person walking tours and quarterly virtual panel discussions.

To join:

• Subscribe to the newsletter via athenaextension.org/westend/subscribe
• Check the Events tab on your dashboard
• RSVP for events (free, no registration fee)

Guided walks are led by local historians, often accompanied by a member of the community who lived through the era being explored. Virtual events include Q&A sessions with contributors and digitization workshops for families wishing to preserve their own archives.

Best Practices

Respect the Communitys Narrative

The Athena Extension is not a tourist attractionit is a living memorial. Many of the stories shared are deeply personal, tied to trauma, resilience, and generational memory. Approach all content with humility. Avoid framing narratives as discovered or revealed; instead, recognize that these stories were preserved by the community for decades before being digitized.

Verify Before You Share

While the editorial team validates submissions, not all user-uploaded content is 100% accurate. Cross-reference dates, names, and addresses with primary sources such as the Atlanta History Centers digital archives or the Georgia Archives. If you spot an error, use the Report Inaccuracy button on each entry.

Use Mobile Data Wisely

AR experiences and high-resolution video oral histories consume significant bandwidth. If youre on a limited data plan, download content in advance. On the web portal, click Download for Offline Use on any map section or oral history to cache it locally on your device.

Engage with the Metadata

Dont just watch or listeninteract with the tags and connections. If you hear a name mentioned in an interview, search that name in the archive. You may uncover related stories, family trees, or events that deepen your understanding. The power of the Athena Extension lies in its interconnectedness.

Encourage Intergenerational Participation

Invite elders in your family or community to share their memories through the portal. Many older residents are unfamiliar with digital tools but are eager to preserve their stories. Offer to help them record audio or upload photos. This bridges generational gaps and ensures that oral histories are not lost.

Be Mindful of Location Accuracy

Some historic buildings no longer exist, and addresses have changed. The map uses both historic and modern street names. Always cross-reference with old city directories (available on the portals Research Tools page) to avoid confusion. For example, West End Avenue was once called Peachtree Street Extension until 1912.

Contribute Consistently, Not Just Once

One-time uploads are valuable, but sustained engagementwhether by adding new photos, correcting errors, or writing annotations to existing entrieshelps build a richer, more accurate archive. Consider becoming a Community Steward by applying through the portal. Stewards receive training and help moderate content.

Pair Physical Exploration with Digital Context

When visiting the West End in person, use the Athena Extension as a companionnot a replacementfor walking tours. Stand at the corner of a historic site, open the app, and experience the AR overlay. This dual-layered engagement creates a profound emotional and intellectual connection to place.

Tools and Resources

Primary Digital Platform

• athenaextension.org/westend Central hub for all features: map, archive, AR, contributions, tours.

Supplementary Research Tools

• Atlanta History Center Digital Collections atlantahistorycenter.com/digital Searchable archives of photographs, maps, and manuscripts.
• Georgia Historic Newspapers gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu Full-text access to 19th- and 20th-century Atlanta newspapers, including the Atlanta Daily World and Atlanta Constitution.
• Library of Congress: African American Odyssey loc.gov/collections/african-american-odyssey/ National context for West Ends history.
• OpenStreetMap Historical Layers Use the Historical Maps plugin in QGIS or JOSM to overlay 1920s Sanborn Fire Insurance maps onto modern street grids.

Technical Tools for Advanced Users

• QGIS Free, open-source GIS software for analyzing spatial data layers from the Athena Extension (downloadable shapefiles available on the portals For Researchers page).
• Audacity For cleaning and transcribing oral history audio files before submission.
• Google Earth Pro Use the Historical Imagery slider to compare aerial views of the West End from 1938 to 2020.
• Metadata Editor (ExifTool) For adding accurate location, date, and description data to uploaded photos.

Physical Resources in the West End

• West End Museum Located at 1010 West End Ave. Offers physical exhibits, guided tours, and access to un-digitized archival boxes.
• Atlanta Public Library West End Branch Houses microfilm of local church records, school registers, and business licenses from 18801960.
• Historic West End Preservation Society Publishes quarterly newsletters and hosts community history nights. Contact via their website for event schedules.

Mobile Optimization Tips

• Use Chrome or Safari for best AR performance.
• Turn off battery-saving mode during AR useit can disable location services.
• Carry a portable charger; AR and map navigation drain batteries quickly.
• Download offline maps (Google Maps or Mapbox) for areas you plan to explore, in case cellular service is spotty.

Real Examples

Example 1: The Discovery of the Hidden Schoolhouse

In 2021, a college student from Savannah visited the West End on a research trip. While using the Athena Extension map, she noticed a faint outline labeled West End Colored School (18851910) near what is now a parking lot on Edgewood Avenue. She cross-referenced the location with a 1905 Sanborn map and found a building marked as Schoolhouse, Negro.

She submitted a photo of her great-grandmothers graduation certificate from the school, dated 1908. The team verified the document and linked it to the location. An oral history was later recorded with the students 92-year-old aunt, who recalled hearing stories about the school from her mother.

Today, the site is marked on the map with a QR code that, when scanned, plays the graduation certificates digital scan alongside the oral history. The discovery prompted the West End Preservation Society to install a small historical plaque at the site.

Example 2: The Revival of the West End Farmers Market

A local chef, Maria Thompson, used the Athena Extension to research the history of food vendors in the neighborhood. She discovered that from 1930 to 1965, a weekly farmers market operated on the corner of West End and Highland Avenues, selling produce grown by Black farmers from surrounding counties.

She created a custom tour called Taste of the West End: Foodways of a Community, featuring oral histories of market vendors, photos of produce stalls, and AR reconstructions of 1940s market carts. She then partnered with the neighborhood association to revive a seasonal farmers market at the original site.

The market now includes a digital kiosk linked to the Athena Extension, allowing shoppers to scan QR codes on produce stalls and hear stories from the descendants of the original vendors.

Example 3: The Correction That Changed a Legacy

For years, the Athena Extension listed the founder of the West End Baptist Church as Rev. James E. Carter. A user from Macon submitted a church ledger from 1892 showing the name as Rev. James E. Cartright. The team verified the ledger with the Georgia Baptist Historical Society and updated the record.

The correction led to the rediscovery of Cartrights unpublished sermons, which were later digitized and added to the archive. His descendants, unaware of his role in the West End, reached out to the project and donated a trunk of letters, photos, and hymnals.

This example illustrates how even a single character correction can unlock decades of lost history.

Example 4: The Virtual Tour That Went Viral

A high school history teacher in Decatur created a tour titled Walking the Color Line: Segregation in the West End. It included 12 locations where African Americans were denied service, followed by oral histories from those who protested or worked around those restrictions.

The tour was shared on social media and picked up by a national education blog. Within three months, over 15,000 students and educators accessed it. The teacher received a grant to expand the tour to include similar sites in other Southern cities, using the Athena Extension as a template.

FAQs

Is the Athena Extension only for people in Atlanta?

No. While the physical AR nodes require on-site presence, the historical map, oral history archive, and contribution portal are accessible worldwide. You can explore, learn, and contribute from anywhere with internet access.

Do I need special equipment to use the AR features?

No. All AR experiences work through your smartphones web browser. No app download is required. Just ensure your device supports ARCore (Android) or ARKit (iOS), which most phones made after 2017 do.

Can I use the content for academic research or publications?

Yes. All content on the Athena Extension is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). You may use it for educational and scholarly purposes as long as you credit Athena Extension, Atlanta West End Project and link to the original source.

Are there any costs associated with using the Athena Extension?

No. The platform is entirely free to use, contribute to, and access. It is funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and private donors.

What if I dont have any photos or stories to contribute?

You can still participate by reviewing and tagging existing content, correcting errors, or sharing tours with others. Every interaction helps improve the archives accuracy and reach.

How often is the content updated?

New oral histories are added monthly. The map is updated quarterly as new archival documents are digitized. AR nodes are added seasonally based on community nominations and funding.

Can I download the entire archive?

Not as a single file. However, researchers can request bulk access to specific datasets (e.g., all oral histories from 19501970) via the Research Access Request form on the portal.

Is the platform accessible for people with disabilities?

Yes. All oral histories include transcripts. The map is compatible with screen readers. AR experiences include audio descriptions. The site meets WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

What if I find a location thats not on the map?

Use the Suggest a Location button on the map interface. Submit the address, historical context, and any supporting documentation. The team will research and verify before adding it.

How can I support the Athena Extension?

Volunteer as a transcriber, donate digitized family materials, host a community storytelling night, or spread awareness through your network. Financial contributions are accepted via the Support Us page, but are not required to use the platform.

Conclusion

The Atlanta West End Athena Extension is more than a digital archiveit is a bridge between past and present, a tool for justice through memory, and a testament to the enduring power of community-led history. By learning how to explore it deeply and respectfully, you become part of a living tradition of preservation, one that honors those who came before and ensures their stories are not buried beneath asphalt or erased by time.

Unlike commercial history apps that package the past as entertainment, the Athena Extension demands engagement. It asks you to listen, question, contribute, and connect. It does not offer curated soundbitesit offers raw, unfiltered voices, layered maps that reveal hidden injustices, and AR reconstructions that make history tactile.

As you walk the streets of the West Endor explore them from your living roomyou are not just consuming history. You are co-authoring it.

Start today. Open the portal. Click Explore the Map. Find a name. Listen to a voice. Share a story. The West End is waiting.