Washington Map Society
MEETING SCHEDULE
On the 146th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 7:00 pm, Earl McElfresh will present a study of the mapping of the Gettysburg Campaign that brings into sharp relief one of the seldom remarked yet critical features of the Civil War. The legendary élan of the Confederate armies and commanders, particularly the cavalry, depended to a great extent on their working environment. They were operating on their own turf. The population was friendly and the ground was familiar. The Union forces faced a hostile population and unknown terrain and had to rely entirely on hastily prepared maps. The Confederate incursion into Maryland and Pennsylvania reversed the scenario. The Union army now had the "home front" advantage. The Confederates had to rely on hastily prepared maps. The effect of this change and the insights it provides into the overall conduct of the war, as revealed by a study of the Gettysburg campaign, is the subject of this presentation. Earl McElfresh, author of Maps and Mapmakers of the Civil War (Abrams, 1999) is part owner of McElfresh Map Company. His maps have been featured by History Book Club, Military Book Club, and Book-of-the-Month Club twenty one times. They are used by the Smithsonian for their tours and seminars, and West Point takes them on their battlefield staff rides. He has spoken on Civil War mapping at numerous venues including C-SPAN BOOK TV. He is a member of the Washington Map Society and lives in Olean, NY.
On Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 7:00 pm, Gary North will present Marie Tharp: The Lady Who Showed Us the Ocean Floors. Marie Tharp and Bruce Heezen of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University are best known for creating the first maps of the ocean floors. Bruce sailed the oceans collecting the data and oversaw the projects, but the person who turned the Precision Depth Recordings and other geoscience data into the two-dimensional views of the bottoms, was Marie. Meticulously she sketched the features that comprise the ocean floors, aligned the data according to the orientations of the fracture zones, and identified volcanoes, earthquake zones, faults and sea mounts. Marie's discovery of the trench in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and her linkage of the major crustal plates for 40,000 miles around the Earth, showed us, and thus confirmed, the concept of plate tectonics and crustal movement. For the "non-drifters" of the time, this was a somewhat revolutionary concept which eventually erupted in conflicts, suspensions, and academic rivalry within Columbia. How Marie came to her place in history, what she was like and how her life unfolded are the subjects of this talk. After serving in the Strategic Air Command, Gary North worked as a scientist with Raytheon Company where he was the on-site program director of the nation's first commercial side-looking radar survey in Ecuador. He joined the U.S. Geological Survey in 1969; worked with the EROS Program; was chief of the National Cartographic Information Center; the Publications Division; and Assistant Chief of the National Mapping Division where he was responsible for the collection and dissemination of all USGS Earth Science information. As President of North Arrow, Ltd. he has worked under contract to the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress as curator of the Heezen-Tharp collection of oceanographic mapping materials. He currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Library's Phillips Society and the Board of Trustees of Davis and Elkins College.
On Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 7:00 pm, Scott Berg, Assistant Professor of English at George Mason University, will discuss his book Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C. The book tells the riveting story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant and the creation of Washington D.C.--from the seeds of his inspiration to the fulfillment of his extraordinary vision. L'Enfant's story is one of consuming passion, high emotion, artistic genius, and human frailty. As a boy he studied drawing at the most prestigious art institute in the world. As a young man he left his home in Paris to volunteer in the army of the American colonies, where he served under George Washington. There he would also meet many of the people who would have a profound impact on his life, including Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe. And it was Washington himself who, in 1791, entrusted L'Enfant with the planning of the nation's capital--and reluctantly allowed him to be dismissed from the project eleven months later. The plan for the city was published under another name, and for the remainder of his life L'Enfant fought for recognition of his achievement. But he would not live to see that day, and a century would pass before L'Enfant would be given credit for his brilliant design. Here is a fascinating, little-explored episode in American history: the story of a visionary artist and of the founding of the magnificent city that is his enduring legacy. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Charles_L'Enfant
On Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 7:00 pm, the Society will meet at the Folger Shakespeare Library (201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003) to view its map collection with WMS member Dr. Erin C. Blake, the Library's Curator of Art & Special Collections. In an evening titled Early Modern Maps at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Dr. Blake will provide a personal look at selected maps and atlases from the Folger's collection of early modern European material. Highlights include a hand-colored 1513 edition of Ptolemy's Geography, one of only two surviving copies of Wenceslaus Hollar's Bird's-eye plan of the west central district of London, ca. 1660, and a collection of highly-detailed 18th-century English county maps.
On Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 7:00 pm (tentative), the Society will hold a Member's Map Evening and conduct its Annual Business Meeting. Join fellow members in a "show and tell" of their favorite map(s). See The Portolan, Issue 75 (Fall 2009), page 55, for the story of the March 2009 Member's Map Evening and the many personal treasures that were brought in for display. Due to time constraints on this special evening, please advise Dennis Gurtz of your interest in bringing a map to show. There will also be a brief Annual WMS Business Meeting, including elections of Officers and Directors.
On Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 7:00 pm (tentative). The program committee is working on a special joint meeting with the Association of American Geographers during their convention in Washington, DC. The AAG is expecting 7,000 attendees for their April 14 - 18 annual meeting. If finalized, WMS will join AAG at either the Omni Shoreham or Marriott Wardman Park Hotels. Watch for WMS emails and the Spring issue of The Portolan for more about the April WMS event.
On Friday, May 14, 2010 at 7:00 pm, the Society will hold its 31st Annual Dinner at historic Gadsby's Tavern at 138 N. Royal Street in Old Town Alexandria, VA; possibly preceded or followed by a short walking tour of the history-filled neighborhood. Watch for WMS emails and the Spring issue of The Portolan for more about the Annual Dinner.