The DPLA has produced many exhibitions on various topics and two are of interest today: “Torn in Two : Mapping the American Civil War” and “From Colonialism to Tourism : Maps in American Culture”
“Torn in Two” tells the story of the Civil War on a local level in Boston as well as nationally. They use primary sources and many of the maps come from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library. (Please see the a previous post called “Bending the Lines”)
In “From Colonialism to Tourism”, they borrowed maps from the David Rumsey Collection as well as other sources to present 4 different moments in American history: Migration on the Oregon Trail, the rise of the Lumber Industry, the Civil War and the popularization of the automobile and the rise of individual tourism. The exhibit concludes with a discussion on the present use of computer aided mapping.
Enjoy looking at these two exhibits and take a look at the other topics on their list — titles include: “Quack Cures and Self Remedies : Patent Medicine”, “Urban Parks in the United States” and “Race to the Moon”