Uncle Remus Museum
The Uncle Remus Museum by Julia Jenkins
For more than half a century the Uncle Remus Museum has conserved Joel Chandler Harris’ early years in Eatonton, GA. Harris voiced the African American critter tales he heard as a boy working at Turnwold Plantation through Uncle Remus, a composite character drawn from several local slaves who shared the stories with him.
Harris' statement, below, in 1900 is the finest tribute ever paid to Eatonton's citizens and is indicative of the greatness of his character.
“. . . it is a great blessing to a young fellow in the clutches of poverty to be raised among such people as those who lived in Eatonton when I was a boy, and whose descendants still live there. I have not the slightest difficulty in the world in referring all that I have ever done or hope to do to the kindly interest which the people of Eatonton took in my welfare when I was too young to know of the troubles which inhabit the world by right of discovery or possession.”
Our Mission
The Uncle Remus Museum strives to educate visitors about the life and work of Joel Chandler Harris using historic storytelling, period artifacts, dioramas of the more famous Uncle Remus characters, local history during Harris' formative years, and informative tours. The Museum also has a wing devoted to the relationship between Harris and his mentor, Joseph Addison Turner, who taught him the printing trade and provided Harris with the equivalent of a college education in writing and journalism.