The Newberry Library: The Chicago Map Society

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.

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 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.

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 20^th 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

Thursday, 20 November 2008, 5:30 PM

The Mississippi River in Maps & Views: From Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico

Speaker: Robert A. Holland (Chicago Map Society)
Location: Ruggles Hall, Newberry Library

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.

Thursday, 11 December 2008, 5:30 PM

Members’ Night

Location: Ruggles Hall, Newberry Library

Do you have a particular map or map-related item you wish to share? Curious about what others are collecting? Here’s your opportunity. On this special night we invite Chicago Map Society members to showcase their interest in maps, be it through a one of a kind item bargained for at a flea market or the long sought after piece that ties your collection together. If you would like to contribute to a show and tell list for all to peruse, please submit by 4 December the title or description of the item you intend to bring to franks [at] newberry [dot] org. Copies will be made available at the meeting.

Thursday, 22 January 2009, 5:30 PM

“A noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die”

Speaker: Dennis McClendon (Chicago Map Society)
Location: Ruggles Hall, Newberry Library

Those words, following closely on the heels of his more famous utterance “Make no little plans,” certainly apply to Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. The “noble diagrams” that Burnham, Edward Bennett, and their associates prepared one hundred years ago are among the most important maps ever made of Chicago. Though never realized fully, the dazzling vision and inspirational power of the “Burnham Plan” influenced our city’s development throughout the twentieth century, and will continue to do so in the twenty-first. On the centenary of the Plan, longtime Plan of Chicago scholar, urban cartographer, and former Map Society president Dennis McClendon will talk about the maps and diagrams used in the document and subsequent promotional efforts, and about how the Plan reshaped the city.

View CMS Meeting Descriptions for Past Years.