"Latitude: Persuasive Cartography" in Cornell University's Kroch Library features highlights from the PJ Mode Collection of Persuasive Cartography—maps intended primarily to influence opinions and beliefs, rather than to communicate geographical information. These “persuasive” maps are focused on shaping decisions and desired outcomes. They employ a variety of tools and strategies—unusual projections and coloring, selective inclusion, imaginative illustration, allegory, satire, and even intentional deception—to advance a particular cause or point of view. Click here to learn more!

An exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society shares the little-known story of Revolutionary War Patriot and Dutch mapmaker Bernard Romans. Romans came to the American colonies in 1757 during the French and Indian War, surveying for the British along the Atlantic seaboard. He became a supporter of American independence, joined the Continental Army, and eventually settled in Wethersfield, CT. Both the British and Americans used Romans’ maps during the American Revolution. In 1780, he was captured by the British and…

"America Transformed: Mapping the 19th Century," at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library, explores the dramatic westward expansion of the United States in the 19th century and the complexity of factors that shaped the country over the century. Homesteads to Modern Cities, 1862-1900, the second part of this two-part exhibit begins in the early 1860s and concludes with the establishment of the modern American city, using Chicago as a case study. Click here to learn…

"Travels on Paper," at the Clark Art Institute, explores travel pictures—drawings, prints, and photographs—that capture the experience of being a traveler and image maker. With works drawn primarily from the nineteenth century, the exhibition provides a look at the power and influence of images long before the Instagram age. The exhibition includes forty-three works by artists Camille Corot (French, 1796–1875), Robert Macpherson (Scottish, c. 1815–1872), Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (French, 1803–1860), John La Farge (American, 1835–1910), Thomas Moran (American, 1837–1926), Félix Teynard…

“Five Hundred Years of Women’s Work: The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection” at the Grolier Club provides a first glimpse into the diversity and depth of the Lisa Unger Baskin’s collection of rare books, manuscripts, journals, ephemera, and artifacts on women’s history. In 2015, Baskin placed her collection of more than 10,000 with Duke University’s Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture in the Rubenstein Library. The phrase “women’s work” usually conjures up domestic duties or occupations associated mainly with…

"Maine’s Lithographic Landscapes: Town & City Views, 1830-1870” at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art explores the history of Maine town and city views published during the first fifty years of statehood through major lithographs and several related paintings. Click here for more information!