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.
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 FALL SCHEDULE
The Atlas of Early Printing is a new digital resource for the study of the spread of printing through Europe. It is a map-based visualization of historical data, depicting both geography and time. The Atlas will be demonstrated and its development will be traced, in particular how GIS software was used to ensure the accuracy of the map and create the data, which was then translated into a more user-friendly system for its online display. The history of the various maps created in the 20th century that show the spread of printing will be highlighted, and the project will be placed within the context of other digital mapping projects in the humanities.
Greg Prickman first began considering a project to depict the spread of printing ten years ago while a student at Indiana University, after encountering a series of maps in a book entitled Annals of Printing. The Atlas of Early Printing combines his interests in traditional bibliography and new digital techniques, which he feels are less in conflict than some might think.
Thursday, 16 October 2008, 5:30 PM
Father of Waters, The Gathering of Waters, The Big Muddy, Ol' Man River – the Mississippi is America’s main street, celebrated in history, song, story, and maps. Chicago Map Society member Bob Holland will give us a preview of his newly published book, The Mississippi River in Maps & Views. Beginning with maps that illustrate the European discovery and exploration of the Mississippi and the subsequent colonization of the Great River’s valley, Bob will move on to the many efforts over several centuries to “pin down” the two end points of the Mississippi – source and mouth. In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States, placing the Mississippi at the young country’s western frontier. Cartographic depictions of the Purchase were soon to appear, and we will see maps illustrating several attempts by the federal government explore and settle this newly acquired territory. Militarily, the Mississippi River has been the key to the control of the interior of the vast continent of North America, a reality we will see clearly represented by maps of several North American conflicts. We will also see maps that depict a time when paddle wheelers plied the country’s main commercial thoroughfare, and charts that helped maintain a navigable commercial channel in the river and protect its valley from flooding. Finally, we’ll see a number of nineteenth-century town views that artistically record the settlement of the banks of the Mississippi. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.
Dr. Holland is a former professor of philosophy at Hofstra University, currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Map Society, and is the author of Chicago in Maps, published by Rizzoli.