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Category: African American History

Transporting Literacy, Prosperity, and the American Dream: The Seaboard Air Line Railway at the Turn of the 20th Century

Posted by: Abraham Parrish

The Seaboard Air Line Railway (SAL) was a prominent passenger and freight railway in the south in the late 19th and beginning 20th centuries.  Headquartered in Portsmouth, VA, the rail line’s primary backbone connected southern states starting in Virginia and southward to the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.  Started in 1832 with its earliest predecessor, …

Detail of manuscript map of part of Henrico and Chesterfield Counties showing topography and some landowners' names.

More Places in Civil War History

Posted by: Amelia Raines

This post is a compilation of the Places in History series written by G&M staff in 2011 and 2016, which explores maps produced during the Civil War, their creation, and the geography they depict. Previous blog posts based on that series can be seen under Places in Civil War History. Mapping Slavery According to the 1860 …

Pictorial map of entertainment, restaurant, and speakeasy facilities in the Harlem district, Manhattan, New York City during the Harlem Renaissance..

Mapping “Points of Interest underneath the Harlem Moon”

Posted by: Carissa Pastuch

Elmer Simms Campbell’s pictorial night-club map showing Harlem’s hotspots for entertainment, dining, and drinking appeared as a centerfold in the January 18, 1933, edition of the short-lived weekly Manhattan Magazine. His work was an important contribution to Harlem’s cultural renaissance—it serves as a time capsule—the itinerary and guide of a typical Friday night at the …

Map of the United States with illustrations all over it showing different groups of people.

Louise E. Jefferson – A Hidden African American Cartographer

Posted by: Julie Stoner

This is a guest post by Iris Taylor, a senior cataloging specialist in the Geography and Map Division. It is a common belief that you can acquire inspiration from a variety of people, places, or things. Seanna Tsung, a Library of Congress staff member, recently uncovered a unique collection of maps in the Geography and …

Visualizing Injustice: Early NAACP Cartographers and Racial Inequality in America

Posted by: John Hessler

No good result can come from any investigation which refuses to consider the facts. A conclusion that is based upon a presumption, instead of the best evidence, is unworthy of a moments consideration.                       –Ida B. Wells, 1901 The use of cartography to highlight economic and …

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

Grafton Tyler Brown, Trailblazing Cartographer of the American West

Posted by: Tim St. Onge

Historically, “cartographer” has commonly been a profession wearing many hats: artist, craftsman, communicator, documentarian, entrepreneur, and pioneer (among many others). To celebrate cartographers who embraced these multitudes of roles to achieve success, it is worth remembering their stories. Today, we recognize Grafton Tyler Brown, a trailblazing African American cartographer of the Pacific Northwest. Brown was …