Former President Jimmy Carter will assist in the ribbon cutting at the brand new exhibit opening on Saturday at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village, operated by Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

The “Jimmy Carter: Georgia’s Native Son” exhibit will open at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 along with another unique exhibit, “Mules & Presidents: The Folk Pottery of Huey and Anne Wheeler”. Dr. Jay Hakes, director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, will attend the exhibit opening. 

The exhibit chronicles President Carter’s remarkable life from his roots in Plains to his White House years and humanitarian career through The Carter Center. The display is packed with rare photos and artifacts, giving viewers a snapshot of President Carter’s life as a peanut farmer, politician, president, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. It was assembled last year and displayed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport until September, 2011.

ABAC President David Bridges said Carter was instrumental in the creation of the Agrirama when he was the governor of Georgia.

“It is fitting that a display honoring America’s former President be displayed at Georgia’s Museum of Agriculture,” said Bridges. “We are excited to have President Carter attending the opening and to work with the Carter Center to bring this display to south Georgia.”

This event is sponsored by The Peanut Institute Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports nutrition research and develops educational programs to encourage healthful lifestyles; and by Frank and Janet McGill. Frank McGill is an ABAC alumnus (Class of ’49) who was the first recipient of the Georgia Peanut Commission Hall of Fame Award.

The “Mules & Presidents” exhibit will feature a sample of Huey and Anne Wheelers’ work on loan from collectors from across the country and several never before displayed pieces, including a life-size face jug of President Carter bearing his signature, documented to be the only piece of pottery in existence bearing the signature of a President of the United States.

Both exhibits will run simultaneously at the museum. The pottery exhibit will remain open until Jan.7, 2012, and the Carter exhibit will be at the Museum until April, 2012. Exhibit hours are from 9-4:30 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

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