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Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library

Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is dedicated to the creative educati

Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is a nonprofit organization established as a public-private partnership between the Library and philanthropist Norman Leventhal. Its mission is to use the collection of 200,000 maps and 5,000 atlases for the enjoyment and education of all through exhibitions, educational programs, and a website that includes more than 3,700 digitized maps. The map

collection is global in scope, dating from the 15th century to the present, with a particular strength in maps and atlases from the New England region, American Revolutionary War period, nautical charts, and world urban centers. The Leventhal Map Center is located on the first floor of the Library’s historic McKim Building in Copley Square. It includes an exhibition gallery that features changing thematic exhibitions, a public learning center with research books, and a reading room for rare map research. Other elements include a world globe three feet in diameter and a Kids Map Club with map puzzles, books and activities. Educational programs for students in grades K to 12 are offered to school groups on site and in the classroom. More than 100 lesson plans based on national standards are available on the website, and professional development programs for teachers are scheduled regularly throughout the year. The Leventhal Map Center is ranked among the top ten in the United States for the size of its collection, the significance of its historic (pre-1900) material, and its advanced digitization program. It is unique among the major collections because it also combines these features with exceptional educational programs to advance geographic literacy among students in grades K to 12 and enhance the teaching of subjects from history to mathematics to language arts. The collection is also the second largest in the country located in a public library, ensuring unlimited access to these invaluable resources for scholars, educators, and the general public.

Operating as usual

Photos from WardMaps LLC's post
02/23/2023

Photos from WardMaps LLC's post

For the majority of Black Bostonians in Florida’s lifetime, especially those who had recently migrated from southern sta...
02/22/2023

For the majority of Black Bostonians in Florida’s lifetime, especially those who had recently migrated from southern states, racism presented a formidable barrier to stable employment. Black men in Boston often worked as bootblacks, janitors, laborers, servants, waiters, and porters, while women often found work as cooks, maids, seamstresses and nursemaids. Boston’s Black entrepreneurs operated businesses that employed black laborers, organizing many of them to engage in collective political action.

The maps in this exhibition rarely show us the names of Black businesses, but we can use other kinds of sources, like city directories and newspaper advertisements, to uncover their stories. For example, Florida’s husband Ulysses A. Ridley ran his tailoring business at 212 Pleasant Street in Boston’s Park Square. Next door to Ulysses’s shop, the offices of the groundbreaking Colored American Magazine bustled as they published new African-American literature and articles protesting racial injustice.

The places where Florida worked, studied, played, and created within are woven throughout our current exhibition, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases. As visitors move through the exhibition, we invite them to look for Florida’s photo to follow her story and see how her life intersected with many other people and places in Boston and beyond: http://bit.ly/3DqKBSP



[Image description: Crop of atlas plate showing Park Square in Boston. Photograph of Florida Ruffin Ridley has been added to lower right corner.]

D. A. Sanborn, “Insurance maps of Boston volume two: plate 27,” (117 Broadway, New York: National Diagram Bureau, 1885). http://bit.ly/3lAJlq7

What was East Boston like in the 19th and 20th centuries? What schools and churches were around? Were any industries bas...
02/21/2023

What was East Boston like in the 19th and 20th centuries? What schools and churches were around? Were any industries based in East Boston?

Join us on Thursday, February 23 at 6PM at East Boston Branch Library to learn about how the community has changed over time and discover how to research the history of your own house and neighborhood.

Registration not required. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3xgtuzI

Never have we ever seen a sun so desolate ⛅  [Image description: Map excerpt showing illustrations of animals, ships and...
02/20/2023

Never have we ever seen a sun so desolate ⛅



[Image description: Map excerpt showing illustrations of animals, ships and sea monsters.]

Samuel de Champlain, “Carte de la Nouvelle-France,” (Paris: Imp. Barousse, 12 Cour du Commerce, [1860]). http://bit.ly/3Ikz8XX

We’ve hit the Mother Lode! During the California Gold Rush, the Mother Lode was one of the most productive gold mining d...
02/19/2023

We’ve hit the Mother Lode! During the California Gold Rush, the Mother Lode was one of the most productive gold mining districts in the United States. Stretching through the Sierra Nevada foothills, the belt measures 150 miles long and only a few miles wide.

[Image description: Geological map of the Mother Lode region in California, covering parts of Eldorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mariposa Counties. Includes list of mining claims by counties.]

Harold W. Fairbanks, “Geological map of the Mother Lode region,” ([Sacramento]: California State Mining Bureau, 1896). http://bit.ly/3xlDCYa

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was published  in 1885. This map of “The Adventures of Mark Twain” is i...
02/18/2023

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was published in 1885. This map of “The Adventures of Mark Twain” is illustrated with “important happenings in the life” of the “river pilot, frontiersman, reporter, traveler, famous author and great American.”

[Image description: A pictorial map of the United States depicting moments in the life of Mark Twain. Includes black and white photographs along the border.]

“The adventures of Mark Twain,” ([Burbank, California]: Warner Bros. Pictures, [1944]). http://bit.ly/3YBRY1W

Located at the southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius, the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii were discovered in the late...
02/17/2023

Located at the southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius, the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii were discovered in the late 16th century; however, serious archaeological excavations did not begin at the site until the mid-18th century. The city had been "preserved in time" for nearly 1,700 years after Vesuvius exploded in 79 CE and buried the site in nearly 23 feet of volcanic debris. The 1862 map displayed here illustrates the excavations of Pompeii as they existed at that time, and lists 95 points of interest, including the Forum (65), the Triangular Forum (84) and the Amphitheatre (89).

Steeger, “Nuova pianta degli scavi di Pompei,” (Lit. Steeger, 1862). http://bit.ly/3HRMvh0

As part of her leadership for the League of Women for Community Service, Florida Ruffin Ridley was committed to celebrat...
02/16/2023

As part of her leadership for the League of Women for Community Service, Florida Ruffin Ridley was committed to celebrating and raising awareness about Black artists. She sponsored performances of amateur theater, chorales from Black colleges, and classical performances, as well as art exhibitions. The Harriet Tubman House in the South End, a settlement house founded by six Black women to provide housing for recently arrived southern Black women, hosted a series of “Musicales” organized by Florida and the League of Women for Community Service in 1919.

The places where Florida worked, studied, played, and created within are woven throughout our current exhibition, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases. As visitors move through the exhibition, we invite them to look for Florida’s photo to follow her story and see how her life intersected with many other people and places in Boston and beyond: http://bit.ly/3DqKBSP



[Image description: Crop of atlas plate showing Holyoke Street in Boston’s South End. Photograph of Florida Ruffin Ridley has been added to lower right corner.]

G. W. Bromley & Co., “Atlas of the city of Boston, Boston proper and Back Bay: plate 23,” (Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley & Co., 1938). http://bit.ly/3YBjZ9Q

The USS Maine, one of the first American battleships, sank in Havana Harbor after a massive explosion  in 1898. The Main...
02/15/2023

The USS Maine, one of the first American battleships, sank in Havana Harbor after a massive explosion in 1898. The Maine had arrived in Cuba just a few weeks prior with orders to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban War of Independence. Although the cause of the accident had not been confirmed, U.S. newspapers were quick to place blame on the Spanish, circulating phrases like “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!" to rally for action.

This of Havana was published to supplement the May 3, 1898 edition of the Boston Sunday Herald. Notice the subtle red star and accompanying label: “U.S. Battleship Maine Blown Up Feb. 15, 1898.”



[Image description: Map of Havana and Havana Harbor showing fortifications and public buildings. Includes labels and outlines of plots.]

Boston Sunday Herald, “Map of Havana and Havana Harbor showing the fortifications and public buildings,” ([Boston]; N.Y.: Boston Sunday Herald; lith. by G.H. Buek & Co., 1898). bit.ly/3QNgESu

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💘This fictitious  of a heart-shaped place called Loveland merges the sentimentality of greeting c...
02/14/2023

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💘

This fictitious of a heart-shaped place called Loveland merges the sentimentality of greeting cards with standard cartographic conventions. From its decorative border to conventional map elements, the map completely commits to the theme of love. (Even the compass rose is composed of a cluster of hearts pieced by three arrows!)



[Image description: Fictitious map of a heart-shaped place called Loveland.]

Ernest Dudley Chase, “A pictorial map of loveland,” (Wi******er, Mass: Ernest Dudley Chase, [1943]). http://bit.ly/3ePPE2M

Love is in the air! 💕 Even among the  and merpeople on this ~1638  of Africa.   [Image description: Excerpt of map of th...
02/13/2023

Love is in the air! 💕 Even among the and merpeople on this ~1638 of Africa.



[Image description: Excerpt of map of the African continent. Text reads Oceanus Aethiopicus. Illustrated ships, sea creatures, and merpeople surround the text.]

Hendrik Hondius, “Africae nova tabula,” (Amsterdam, [1638]). http://bit.ly/3DERgZV

In 1918, Florida, her mother, and Maria Louisa Baldwin founded the League of Women for Community Service, and soon after...
02/12/2023

In 1918, Florida, her mother, and Maria Louisa Baldwin founded the League of Women for Community Service, and soon after purchased a building at 558 Massachusetts Avenue in the South End. Initially intended to support Black soldiers during World War I, the League went on to fill many civic roles, including housing Black female students attending Boston’s universities. While attending the New England Conservatory, Coretta Scott lived in the building when dating Martin Luther King.

The places where Florida worked, studied, played, and created within are woven throughout our current exhibition, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases. As visitors move through the exhibition, we invite them to look for Florida’s photo to follow her story and see how her life intersected with many other people and places in Boston and beyond: http://bit.ly/3DqKBSP



[Image description: Crop of atlas plate of Massachusetts Avenue. Photograph of Florida Ruffin Ridley has been added to lower right corner.]

G.W. Bromley and Co., ”Atlas of the city of Boston, Boston proper and Back Bay, plate 28.” (1922).

🚴 🚴‍♀️ 🚴‍♂️ The Boston Bicycle Club was formed  in 1878! The first of its kind, the club organized activities ranging fr...
02/11/2023

🚴 🚴‍♀️ 🚴‍♂️ The Boston Bicycle Club was formed in 1878! The first of its kind, the club organized activities ranging from tricycle races to 100-mile rides, advocated for better roads, and was a hub for social life.

This bicycle of shows the city of and its Metropolitan Park System, with red-lined bicycle routes offering a means of exploring the nation’s first regional park system.

[Image description: Map excerpt of Greater Boston area. Red lines indicate bicycling routes. Shaded green areas indicate existing and proposed parks.]

Geo. H. Walker & Co., “Road map of the Boston district showing the metropolitan park system,” (Boston: Geo. H. Walker & Co., 1898). http://bit.ly/3DQMFUC

The famous Guinness Storehouse is included on this ~1921  of Dublin 🍻🍻 Sláinte![Image description: Excerpt of map of Dub...
02/10/2023

The famous Guinness Storehouse is included on this ~1921 of Dublin 🍻🍻 Sláinte!

[Image description: Excerpt of map of Dublin. Shows labelled streets and public attractions, as well as green space and the Liffey River.]

John Bartholomew and Son, “Plan of Dublin,” (Edinburgh: Bartholomew & Son, Ltd., [1921]). http://bit.ly/3HqDHyq

Still looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for the map-lover in your life? Check out our gift store for all your...
02/09/2023

Still looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for the map-lover in your life? Check out our gift store for all your map gift needs at leventhalmap.org/store/ 💕

Displayed here is a map of San Francisco's Chinatown, the oldest and one of the largest Chinatowns in North America. It ...
02/08/2023

Displayed here is a map of San Francisco's Chinatown, the oldest and one of the largest Chinatowns in North America. It is the first map made by Chinese Americans of San Francisco for the Chinese community.

[Image description: Map of San Francisco’s Chinatown. In Chinese and English. Street names in English, business and place names in Chinese.]

J. P. Wong, “Meiguo Sanfan Shi hua qiao qu : xiang xi tu = Map of San Francisco Chinatown,” ([San Francisco]: J.P. Wong, 1929). http://bit.ly/3Jdve3U

Florida Ruffin Ridley grew up on the North side of Boston’s Beacon Hill. Her parents were financially well-to-do and hig...
02/07/2023

Florida Ruffin Ridley grew up on the North side of Boston’s Beacon Hill. Her parents were financially well-to-do and highly educated, and so her early years were not representative of those of all Black children in the city. She attended the Grant School near her home, the same school where she would teach after receiving her credentials from the Boston Teachers College as a young woman. Though Boston schools were integrated, the Black population of the city at the time was around 5%, compared with today’s approximately 20%. As a result, there were proportionally few Black students in classrooms.

The places where Florida worked, studied, played, and created within are woven throughout our current exhibition, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases. As visitors move through the exhibition, we invite them to look for Florida’s photo to follow her story and see how her life intersected with many other people and places in Boston and beyond: http://bit.ly/3DqKBSP



[Image description: Crop of atlas plate of Beacon Hill. Photograph of Florida Ruffin Ridley has been added to upper right corner.]

G.W. Bromley & Co., ”Atlas of the city of Boston : city proper, plate E.” (1883)

We’ve just earned our 2023 Gold Seal with ! The Leventhal Map & Education Center relies on the support of our community ...
02/06/2023

We’ve just earned our 2023 Gold Seal with ! The Leventhal Map & Education Center relies on the support of our community members. We want to make sure you can confidently support our work and know that donations go directly towards our mission of bringing public geographic education to all.

02/05/2023

Due to a facilities emergency, the Central Library Boston Public Library, including the Leventhal Map & Education Center gallery, will be closed to the public on Sunday, February 5.

This  highlights year round vacation areas across the state of , with mentions of the Old Sturbridge Village, the New Be...
02/05/2023

This highlights year round vacation areas across the state of , with mentions of the Old Sturbridge Village, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the Berkshires. What vacation spots would you add to the map?

[Image description: Excerpt of pictorial map of Massachusetts. Thick lines indicate major expressways. includes points of interest and color illustrations.]

Ernest Dudley Chase, “Historic Massachusetts: a travel map to help you feel at home in the Bay State,” (Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Department of Commerce, 1964). http://bit.ly/3kGEwLK

Join us on Wednesday, March 1 at 6PM for an author talk with writer and journalist Laura Bliss to discuss her recent boo...
02/04/2023

Join us on Wednesday, March 1 at 6PM for an author talk with writer and journalist Laura Bliss to discuss her recent book, The Quarantine Atlas: Mapping Global Life Under COVID-19, which explores reader-submitted maps of their lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sculptor and graphic designer Rajiv Raman will join the conversation, which will be moderated by Garnette Cadogan, who is the Tunney Lee Distinguished Lecturer in Urbanism at the School of Architecture and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Following the talk, there will be time for audience Q&A, and the program will conclude at 7PM with an author signing facilitated by an independent bookstore partner.

Learn more and register at http://bit.ly/3wrqBvD.

Presented in partnership with Adult Programs.

This 1944  of the Philippines includes a key to land use, vegetation, and planting including food products, to***co, sub...
02/03/2023

This 1944 of the Philippines includes a key to land use, vegetation, and planting including food products, to***co, subsistence farms, and forests.

[Image description: Map of the Northern Philippines. Areas are shaded by land use.]

United States. Office of Strategic Services. Research and Analysis Branch, “Northern Philippines land utilization,” ([Washington, D.C.], Reproduction Branch, OSS, 1944). http://bit.ly/400uvJA

What was it like to grow up in the Boston of times past? What challenges face young Bostonians today?Join us for a panel...
02/02/2023

What was it like to grow up in the Boston of times past? What challenges face young Bostonians today?

Join us for a panel conversation on Black Boston Stories: Growing Up on Thursday, February 9 at 6PM at Grove Hall Branch Library. Four long-time Boston residents will reflect on growing up in the city and lead a wider conversation with participants.

This conversation will be led by Klare Shaw, Helen Credle, Dart Adams, and Jerry Smart.

Food will be provided. Registration encouraged but not required at leventhalmap.org/event/

Organized as part of the Leventhal Map & Education Center’s ongoing exhibition, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases.

Image: Spencer Grant, "Black schoolchildren play recorders, Roxbury," (1971).

Florida Ruffin Ridley was born in 1861 and lived with her parents, George and Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, on Charles St...
02/01/2023

Florida Ruffin Ridley was born in 1861 and lived with her parents, George and Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, on Charles Street at the foot of Beacon Hill. Her father was the first African-American to graduate from Harvard Law School and the first Black judge in the United States. Her mother was a well-known activist, writer, and organizer for suffrage and against racial injustice.

The places where Florida worked, studied, played, and created within are woven throughout our current exhibition, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases. As visitors move through the exhibition, we invite them to look for Florida’s photo to follow her story and see how her life intersected with many other people and places in Boston and beyond.

Florida is pictured here as part of the 1895 First National Conference of the Colored Women of America: bit.ly/3XZhP3I.



[Image description: Black and white photography of Florida Ruffin Ridley.]

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Join critical cartographer Alex B. Hill for an informal conversation with the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library! We'll discuss how Hill has used maps and digital info to highlight the social issues of Detroit, and how mapping is crucial for understanding the history of cities.

Learn more & register: http://ow.ly/XBZ250I9fuP
Learn about media literacy in the historical & cartographic landscape at our lecture next Thursday with the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library! 🗺️ We’ll uncover inaccuracies, dive into issues of viral misinformation, and review methods of map interpretation.

Learn more & register: http://ow.ly/XNbH50I4kNy
Learn about the history of Upper Roxbury's changing names and boundaries in our virtual talk next Wednesday with the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library & BU's Initiative on Cities!

Learn more & register: http://ow.ly/b9un50I4j0P
Check out the conversation with Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, The Graduate Center, CUNY, and La Colaborativa. We talked about how democratizing access to data, collaboration with State Representative Mike Moran and Will Brownsberger, and partnership with 60+ organizations in Drawing Democracy made some redistricting magic happen! Learn more by watching the conversation.
Did you know Boston was once home to a thriving confectionery industry? 🍬 Learn more about the city's history of candy-making just in time for Valentine's Day by reading this The Boston Globe article from the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.

Read more: http://ow.ly/auec50HUEZP
Join an online discussion of redistricting, digital mapping tools, and organizing efforts locally and nationally! The Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library and Massachusetts Voter Table will speak with representatives from The Graduate Center, CUNY and Boston-based nonprofit La Colaborativa.

Learn more & register: http://ow.ly/kbAU50HR6uL
Exploring the north side of Beacon Hill, two maps could be compared: the ancient community and its prominent exponents compared with the modern one where active intellectuals lived in recent times ... A map halfway between geography and social.
Once a search area has been defined, the ancient map could have as its central point the area at 71 Joy Street. This property is located on the north slope of Beacon Hill.
While the South Slope was known as the home of Boston's wealthiest residents since the early 19th century,
the North Slope had been the home of Boston's black community members
as early as the mid-18th century. I thought of Joy Street 71 because archaeological investigations revealed a site where historically interesting people lived including an abolitionist and minister (and Roberts' brother-in-law) named Hosea Easton.
Easton is an interesting character himself.xploring the North Slope of Beacon Hill one could make a story starting from its past, revealed by archaeological investigations, up to its current urban development.
The search could start at 71 Joy Street. This property is located on the North Slope of Beacon Hill.
While the South Slope was known as the home of the wealthiest
residents of Boston starting in the early 19th century,
the North Slope had been home to members of Boston's Black community
as early as the mid-18th century. An abolitionist and minister (and brother-in-law to Roberts) named Hosea Easton lived there ... Easton is an interesting character himself.
Today's featured image from our collections is a 1785 "Plan of the Indian Plantation" drawn by Gideon Hawley, a missionary minister to the Mashpee Wampanoag from 1758-1807. This manuscript map reveals a snapshot of the complex relationship between people, land, and community. We encourage you learn more about the history of land dispossession at the links below and consider the ways in which the legacy of colonization is still reverberating in land rights disputes today.

Interactive Map: http://ow.ly/oamE50GRTVe
America Transformed Exhibit: http://ow.ly/xBUk50GRTVc

📷: The Land of the Mashpee
Gideon Hawley, 1785
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
See the American Revolution through different perspectives at our 10/26 lecture with award-winning historian Kathleen DuVal! Based on her book Independence Lost (Penguin Random House), DuVal will take us on a journey through geographies of the Revolution we don't often see. Presented in partnership with the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.

Learn more & register: http://ow.ly/wmhO50GwwXF
Guggenheim fellow Reece Jones argues that immigration laws in the US have always been motivated by racial exclusion in his book White Borders (Beacon Press). Join our author talk with him on Wednesday to learn more about the history of American immigration law, presented in partnership with the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library & the State Library of Massachusetts.

Learn more & register: http://ow.ly/caFi50GwwyO
Check out our exhibit by the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, opening today! "Bending Lines" shows how maps and data visualization can bend the lines of reality based on the institutions or contexts they serve.

Drop by any time during the Map Center's hours to view the exhibit yourself, and learn more about guided tours: http://ow.ly/Y7tG50G7HBS
We invite you to join us for the Monday Map Lunch Series! Each month scholars and practitioners from near and far will share their current endeavors in an informal (Zoom) environment with plenty of time for a robust Q&A session.

The Monday Map Lunch Series kicks off with a presentation by Garrett Dash Nelson, President and Head Curator at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, at 12:00 PM on September 13, 2021. In conjunction with the opening of the physical exhibit "Bending Lines: Maps and Data from Distortion to Deception", Garrett will present Don’t Believe Me On This: Engaging With Truth and Skepticism Through Maps & Data.

This event will be presented on Zoom and tickets are limited to the first 95 registrants. All events in the Monday Map Lunch Series are free and open to the public. Use the link in our bio to register!

Garrett Dash Nelson is a historical geographer whose work focuses on the relationship between community structure, geographic units, and political ideology. He holds an AB from Harvard College in Social Studies and Visual & Environmental Studies, an MA from the University of Nottingham in Landscape & Culture, and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Geography.

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