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Category: Biography

Insets of the Mexican War, McClellan's Peninsular Campaign and Lee's First Northern Invasion.

Eugenia Wheeler Goff: A Cartographer and Educator

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

Women have made significant contributions to the field of cartography throughout history. In celebration of Women’s History Month I have chosen to write about the noted 19th century cartographer, educator, and historian, Eugenia Almira Wheeler Goff. Eugenia Wheeler was born in 1844 in North Clarkson, New York. Her family moved to Winona, Minnesota when she …

The cover page of the World's Greatest War.

A Rare Atlas of the First World War

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

  On October 27, 2022, the Library of Congress held an event for members of the Philip Lee Phillips Society, the Washington Map Society, and the Friends of the Library of Congress. The event was named “Explore the Depths of the Geography and Map Division.” Unusual maps and atlases from the collections of the Geography …

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 …

A page from William Hacke's atlas.

William Hacke: A Pirate’s Cartographer

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

William Hacke was one of the most prolific manuscript chart makers for his time. According to the Oxford  Dictionary of National Biography Hacke produced over 300 navigational charts from 1682 to 1702. In this post I will briefly discuss his career and his role in the pardon of the notorious pirate Bartholomew Sharp. William Hacke was …

An image of the title page for the atlas by Ortelius.

Ortelius: A Legendary Mapmaker

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

Many years ago I visited an antique show held at the Washington D.C. Stadium Armory. Dealers from all over the United States displayed almost every kind of antique on tables throughout the market. One of the dealers owned an antique map store in St. Louis. I looked at many maps, dated from the 19th century …