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CHICAGO (June 18, 2007) - Using maps as your guide, survey the landscape of the American West, from the era of European colonial ambitions through the formation of the United States, in Mapping Manifest Destiny: Chicago and the American West.
Mapping Manifest Destiny, a free exhibition at the Newberry Library from November 3, 2007, through February 16, 2008, will feature approximately 60 historic maps and views from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries. During this journey through time, Chicago emerges first as a dot on the map, becoming a bustling metropolis, and subsequently a major center for the production of American maps.
"Mapping Manifest Destiny showcases the range of motivations present in opening up the American West for commerce, as well as for broad public use, as is the case in the promotion of Yellowstone State Park," says Michael Conzen, curator and chair of the Committee on Geographical Studies at the University of Chicago. "Maps allow us to tell the unique story of how a young nation was built and the motivations behind the dreamers, explorers, swindlers and speculators who made this country the shape of what it is today."
The exhibition begins with a look at maps with overtly political overtones, and will highlight the importance of the American West to the often-conflicting territorial ambitions of Europe's imperial powers.
The contest between the French and British to dominate the continent will be dramatized through two of the most celebrated colonial maps, Guillaume Delisle's 1718 Carte de la Lousiane et du cours de Mississippi and John Mitchell's 1755 A Map of the British and French dominions in North America.
"With these documents, the two nations waged a war of maps," Conzen explained.
The exhibit continues with maps created specifically to document the West and educate Americans about the United States and its resources. For example, visitors will be able to trace the route of John C. Fremont's government-sponsored expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon, and Northern California using Charles Preuss's 1844 map of the historic journey. The exhibition will also chart the government's desire to dominate the American Indians and usurp their land. The Map of the Route Pursued in 1849 by the U.S. Troops traces the punitive expedition against the Navajo Indians led by the Territorial Governor of New Mexico. In 1889 the Bureau of Indian Affairs summarized the government's systematic removal of native peoples from their lands in a map of the Okalahoma Indian Territory, which depicts tribal groups neatly contained within boldly outlined reservations.
The exhibition concludes with a section on maps used to claim territory, exploit resources, and promote commercial interests throughout the West. Visitors will see, for example, the way that a colorful gold-rush era broadside advertised the powerful lure of California in 1848 by including maps of land routes from the eastern United States alongside maps of the actual mining districts.
Mapping Manifest Destiny: Chicago and the American West will also feature additional, remarkable items, including:
A second map exhibition will also be on display at the Newberry at the same time - Ptolemy's Geography and Renaissance Mapmakers. This exhibition will showcase, for probably the first time, all 27 maps in the Ptolemaic canon in original Renaissance print editions. Out of the 37 original objects on display, 36 will be from the Newberry's renowned map collections.
Created in the second century by the Alexandrian geographer, astronomer, and mathematician Claudius Ptolemy, the Geographia is universally regarded as the single most important geographical book ever produced. After its translation into Latin in the fifteenth century, it exerted a profound influence on geographical thought and cartographic methods. The emergence of modern mathematically based cartography during the Renaissance was largely dependent upon the teachings of the Geographia and its interpretation.
This exhibition has been made possible by major underwriting from Barry and Mary Ann MacLean. Additional support is generously provided by Northern Trust.
About the Newberry Library
The Newberry Library, a preeminent humanities research and reference institution, is home to a world-class collection of books, manuscripts, maps, music, and other printed materials related to the history and culture of Western Europe and the Americas. The collections span many centuries and feature items such as illuminated medieval manuscripts, rare early maps, rich genealogical resources, and the personal papers of Midwest authors. The Newberry offers exhibitions based on its collections, musical and theatrical performances, lectures and discussions with today's leading humanists, seminars and workshops, and teacher programs. Visit www.newberry.org to learn more.
About the Festival of Maps Chicago
The Festival of Maps begins on Nov. 2, 2007 and will continue into 2008. It takes place at multiple locations throughout the greater Chicagoland area. The Festival of Maps is a citywide celebration of humanity's greatest discoveries and the maps that record the world's boldest explorations. For the first time, more than 25 cultural and scientific institutions in Chicago join a unique collaboration that features maps, globes, artifacts and artwork and track the evolving technology of wayfinding from ancient to modern times. For a full list of events, dates, locations and costs, please visit www.festivalofmaps.com.