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Posted by: Amelia Raines
This post explores a unique geologic map. Ives's strata map, made up of 10 plates representing different geologic periods, was designed as a tool for instruction in schools and colleges in the late 19th century.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This post explores the history of a large spherical globe with only latitude and longitude lines in the collections of the Geography & Map Division.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History
Posted by: Lena Denis
Excitement about the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics is sweeping our own nation’s capital, as it is in so many places around the world. Here at the Library of Congress, we’re certainly marking the occasion. The Informal Learning Office (ILO) recently hosted an Olympics-themed Family Day, and afterward they published a blog post about it where …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, American History, City Histories, European History, Geography and Map Division
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
This post features selected maps that were created under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, African American History, American History, Manuscripts
Posted by: Lena Denis
Maps showing cod and beavers in an 18th-century atlas project imperial power and economic might.
Posted in: 18th century cartography, American History, Exploring the Early Americas
Posted by: Lena Denis
Growing up in a Brazilian-American household, I’ve long appreciated the delicious versatility of the Atlantic cod, scientific name Gadus morhua, known to the Portuguese-speaking world as bacalhau in its preferred salted and dried form. It was only when I began working as a map librarian, however, that I saw how powerful cod truly was. Centuries …
Posted in: 16th century cartography, 18th century cartography, American History, European History, Exploration
Posted by: Tim St. Onge
Fascinating maps at various scales tell the story of the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, a pivotal moment in the Civil War and the contested fight for control of New Orleans and the Mississippi River.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History, Military History
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This blog post describes William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's attempt to irrigate Wyoming's Big Horn Basin through maps which detail the area.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, American History
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This post details the broad history of coal and iron-ore deposit in Alabama, including the founding and building of Birmingham and the use of convict labor in the mines.
Posted in: African American History, American History, City Histories