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Archive: 2019 (29 Posts)

Hand drawn map on discolored paper

Map Helps Uncover Civil War Battlefield Tunnels at Petersburg, Virginia

Posted by: Ryan Moore

The Union ambitiously tunneled 511 feet to reach the Confederate lines during siege of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864. Unique to this Civil War battle, they set off a massive explosion that created a 170-by-120-feet crater beneath the Confederate lines and stormed the defenses in a failed effort, known as the Battle of the Crater. Thereafter, the Confederates worried …

Il Tricolore Italiano in Tripolitania e Cirenaica Diario Illustrata della Geurra Italo-Turca. Panorama dimostrativo della Battaglia del 26 Ottobre 1911, 1911 November 1. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.

A Cartographic Memento From a Small War

Posted by: Mike Klein

Most historians consider the Italo-Ottoman War, 1911-12, as a prelude to World War I. Although it has fallen into obscurity, some relics, such as this compelling panoramic map of the war’s first major engagement, may revive our interest. Italy’s claims to North Africa were rooted in Roman times. Over the millennia, the provinces of Tripolitania …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Rising to the First: An Interview with Dr. Paulette Hasier

Posted by: John Hessler

This is a special Women’s History Month guest post by Giselle Aviles, the 2019 Archaeological Research Associate in the Geography and Map Division. Giselle interviews Dr. Paulette Hasier, the first woman to serve as Chief of the Geography and Map Division since it was founded late in the nineteenth century. On one of my breaks from …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

For Love, War, and Tribute: Featherwork in the Early Americas

Posted by: John Hessler

This is the second in series of guests posts by Giselle Aviles, the 2019 Archaeological Research Associate in the Geography and Map Division, where she is delving into the treasures of the William and Inger Ginsberg Collection of Pre-Columbian Textiles and the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the History and Archaeology of the Early Americas. …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Society of Woman Geographers Coming to the Library of Congress

Posted by: John Hessler

The 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) takes place in Washington DC this year and with the conference come thousands of geographers of all stripes, from across this vibrant and rapidly expanding discipline. This year the association will give one its highest honors, the Atlas Award, to the Librarian of Congress, …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

From Ethnography to Feathers: Investigating Collections at the Library

Posted by: John Hessler

This is the first in series of guests posts by Giselle Aviles, the 2019 Archaeological Research Associate in the Geography and Map Division, where she is delving into the treasures of the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the History and Archaeology of the Early Americas. Captivated by the nuances in sociocultural texts, she is undertaking …