A new museum in Atlanta brings the sights and sounds of the civil-rights movement into modern times, using photos, videos and interactive displays to tie the struggles of the past to contemporary human-rights issues.

“We’ve been trying to tell the civil-rights story in a way so that it connects with all the issues around the world,” Doug Shipman, CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, told Atlanta CBS affiliate WAOK.

The museum celebrated its official opening on Monday with a ceremony that included speeches from Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and Georgia Rep. John Lewis, one of the original Freedom Riders — civil-rights activists who defied the racial segregation of interstate buses in the south.

“You cannot walk out of this place without a mood being touched in the spine, and maybe shedding just a few tears,” Lewis said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Plans for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights were set in motion more than 10 years ago, and former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin called its completion “a step along the way” in the city’s journey toward equality and freedom, The Augusta Chronicle reported.

"Atlanta has claimed a position for itself, historically, as a place where people grapple with human issues, fairness issues, justice issues,” Franklin said, according to CNN. “Atlanta has claimed its history for itself."

The 42,000-square-foot facility houses exhibits on various civil-rights issues, including the Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King, Jr., and women’s and LGBTQ rights. In one exhibit, visitors can experience what it was like to participate in lunch-counter demonstrations in which black protesters would sit at "whites only" lunch counters, and demand equal service. Visitors place their hands on a counter, and put on headphones that play audio simulating the the increasingly violent heckling these protesters faced. Another exhibit simulates the 1963 March on Washington and King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

“You’re in the moment,” George C. Wolfe, the center’s chief creative officer, said of the lunch-counter exhibit, according to the New York Times. “You’re in the times. You’re experiencing the euphoria and the danger that was existing at the time.”

Built using private and public funds, and designed by architect Phil Freelon, the $75 million center is located on land donated by Coca-Cola. The National Center for Civil and Human Rights bills itself as "the ideal place to reflect on the past, transform the present and inspire the future." Tourism officials in Atlanta said they hope it will attract visitors from across the United States.

“Especially among millennials, there’s a renewed interest in understanding that history, and Atlanta is going to certainly be a beneficiary of that,” William Pate, president and chief executive of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the New York Times.

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights is one of several civil-rights museums to open or be developed recently, CNN reported. For hours, admission and other information, check out the center's official website.

Atlanta Civil Rights Museum

1. The newly built National Center for Civil and Human Rights stands at left in Atlanta, GA on June 18, 2014.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

2. Mug shots of the Freedom Riders are affixed to the side of a model bus as part of an exhibit at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

3. Volunteer Monique Jenkins, right, and volunteer coordinator Robert Jones, left, listen through headphones to increasingly intense taunts and threats endured by protesters during staged sit-ins at the “whites only” dining counters as part of an exhibit at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

4. A pair of sneakers are displayed as part of an exhibit exploring the ethical footprint of common consumer products at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

5. A vintage television shows a clip of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace speaking in favor of segregation as part of an exhibit at the newly built National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

6. Workers pass through an exhibit depicting the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis at the newly built National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

7. Volunteer Monique Jenkins listens through headphones to increasingly intense taunts and threats endured by protesters during staged sit-ins at the “whites only” dining counters as part of an exhibit at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

8. An exhibit of modern day human rights fighters stands on display at the newly built National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

9. An exhibit depicting life in America during the 1950s and 60s for whites on the left and blacks on the right greets visitors to the newly built National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

   Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

10. Quotes by former South African President Nelson Mandela and cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead decorate two water fountains outside the newly built National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

    Image: David Goldman/Associated Press

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