THE CHICAGO MAP SOCIETY
60 W Walton St
Chicago, IL 60610
312-255-3689
Founded in 1976, the Chicago Map Society is the oldest map society in North America. Meetings are held during the academic year at the Newberry Library. Meetings begin with an informal social half-hour, followed by a 45-minute presentation and a brief question and answer session. The society occasionally arranges excursions to map libraries and often dedicates one meeting a year as an opportunity for members to share their own maps with the group.
MEMBERSHIP
There are no special qualifications for membership; the only requirement is an interest in maps. If you would like to join the Society, simply fill out and return the membership form, along with $25 for academic year dues, to: Treasurer, Chicago Map Society, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago IL 60610.
Members of the Chicago Map Society are automatically subscribed to Mapline, the subscription newsletter of the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library.
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MEETINGS
Meetings are held monthly during the academic year (September-May or June), at 5:30 PM at the Newberry Library. The Library is located at 60 West Walton Street between Clark and Dearborn Streets in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. Meetings are open to the public. We do, however, ask for a $5 donation from non-Map Society members towards program costs, which are covered by members’ annual dues.
2008-09 SPRING SCHEDULE
**Geographic Society of Chicago**
Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 5:30 PM reception, 6 PM lecture
“Environmental Inequalities and Hurricanes in New Orleans”
Speaker: Craig E. Colten, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University
Location: Newberry Library, Ruggles Hall
Hurricane Katrina forcefully exposed vast inequities in terms of how people were able to cope with flooding in New Orleans. But the geography of flood risk, the people at risk, and flood protection structures are not static. I will trace the development of the hurricane protection systems for the New Orleans area and the changing distribution of urban residents and their exposure to Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and Hurricane Katrina landfall in 2005.
Thursday, 23 April 2009, 5:30 PM reception, 6 pm lecture
“What to do With Your Stuff when the Kids Don’t Want it : A Panel Discussion on the Future of Your Collection”
Location: Newberry Library, Ruggles Hall
Whether our collections are small or large, whether they consist of maps, books, or telegraph insulators, whether they are of great or minimal value, one thing is for sure: the time will come when you are no long able to take care of them. Basically you have three choices: sell them, give them to your heirs, or give them to an institution. But how or where to sell, and for how much? What are the legal and tax implications of gifts or sales? How do you find an appropriate institution, and how do you know they will want your gift? Our panel will consist of antiquarian dealer George Ritzlin, attorney Allan Meyer, collector Art Holzheimer and librarian Bob Karrow. Each will make a brief presentation relating to the topic and then we will throw the floor open to your questions. This isn’t quite like “Antiques Road Show,” though -- please don’t bring artifacts, only questions.
Refreshments will be served.
Thursday, 21 May 2009, 5:30 PM reception, 6 pm lecture
“A Lost City: Maps and Views of Ribeira Grande (Santiago, Cape Verde) at the time of Drake's Conquest”
Speaker: Rita Costa-Gomes (Towson University)
Location: Newberry Library, Ruggles Hall
Before Sir Francis Drake crossed the Atlantic to attack Spanish possessions in the Americas, he stopped at the Cape Verde island of Santiago. His conquest of the port city of Ribeira Grande was recorded shortly after 1585 by an enigmatic artist/engraver named Baptista Boazio. One question is whether Boazio (who also engraved maps of St. Augustine and Santo Domingo) was actually a member of the Drake expedition -- the evidence is mixed. His view of Ribiera Grande is our principal visual source for early urban history of Cape Verde. Prof. Costa-Gomes will discuss the available urban models for the Portuguese foundation of new towns in the early Atlantic (15th and 16th centuries), and how these expressed a diversity of Iberian late medieval practices, settlement experiences and environmental conditions.