Literary History comes to Life at the Wren’s Nest

Address: 1050 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. SW, Atlanta

Contact: 404-753-7735; wrensnestonline.com

Admission: Walk-ins: $5 for children, $8 for adults; Groups with storytelling (reservations required): $6 for children, $9 for adults

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 10:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Once upon a time, Atlanta’s West End was a literary mecca. Luminaries including then-President Theodore Roosevelt dropped by to visit the Atlanta Constitution’s associate editor, whose collection of stories from the African-American oral tradition was one of the country’s most popular literary works. Today, you can still see the typewriter Joel Chandler Harris used and his collection of books, among other treasures, at the Wren’s Nest. (Originally called Snap Bean Farm, the Harris family changed the name when a pair of wrens built their nest in the home’s mailbox. The Harrises built a new mailbox and renamed their homestead.) But the real treat is the back-garden storytelling, a tradition that’s as alive and well as you’d expect in the house that built Brer Rabbit. For younger kids, the magic of a brilliantly told story is enough to make this trip worth the parking hassle, but older kids are ready to tackle the complicated racial issues surrounding Harris’s legacy, including the much-maligned Disney take on his tales. 

4 Things You Shouldn’t Miss at the Wren’s Nest

1. A first edition of Poe’s The Raven sits in the hall bookcase.

2. Harris used the String Man in his bedroom as a discipline tool: naughty kids had to tie or untie all the pieces.

3. The stuffed owl was a gift from President Theodore Roosevelt, who befriended Harris.

4. Harris used the hand-carved statue of Brer Fox taking Brer Rabbit to jail as a  humidor for his cigars.

Insider Tip

Round up at least fifteen people to take advantage of a private storytelling session in the garden. (Pay a $75 advance deposit, which you’ll get back as long as your group meets the fifteen-person minimum.)

Required Reading

The Tales of Uncle Remus, as told by Julian Lester, uses modern dialect makes these tales more accessible to today’s readers.

Fun Fact

Harris was skeptical of the house’s indoor plumbing and only used the inside toilet once, according to family legend. He much preferred the outhouse.

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