Events

location: Reading Room, Geography and Map Division, B level, Library of Congress, Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 7.pm

On Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 7:00 p.m., Patrick O'Neill will speak on The Battle of the White House. The year 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, called, by many, America's second war for independence. The talk will focus on a battle that occurred between the burning of Washington and the attack on Fort McHenry. Mr. O'Neill will discuss the historical and battle maps he has had to create, in researching this important battle, because none were in existence. Patrick O'Neill is a historian based in Washington, D.C. He has written two books for the Images of America series, Mount Vernon, and Virginia's Presidential Homes. From 2009-2010, he served as President of the Archeological Society of Virginia.

location: Reading Room, Geography and Map Division, B level, Library of Congress, Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 7p.m.

On Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 7:00 p.m., Dr. Sharon MacInnes will speak on Genealogy and Maps: A Perfect Marriage for Tracking Ancestors. Genealogists use, or should use, maps of many different kinds to locate their ancestors, track their migrations, reveal family relationships and uncover historical context in which to place their family history. Dr. MacInnes will explore how genealogists use maps, and how such maps broaden the perspective of a researcher beyond an individual ancestor to the broader family and the society in which they lived. The presentation will use, as an example, a family who migrated from Maryland to Pennsylvania, to West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska. The importance of national, state and county collections, privately published maps, atlases and other documents, online maps and mapping software will be discussed. Dr. Sharon MacInnes has been a dedicated genealogist since 1976. She has completed courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Research, in Washington, D.C. And the Samford Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, in Birmingham, Alabama. She has compiled and published seven atlases documenting the plat maps for the earliest landowners of seven counties of Pennsylvania. She has also published Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Land Tracts Transferred from Virginia to Pennsylvania Jurisdiction, 1779-1780.

location: Gardner Room Emmanuel College, St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge CB2 3AP 5.30pm

Seminar led by Lucy Donkin of Cambridge University.  Refreshments will be available after the seminar.

location: Reading Room, Geography and Map Division, B level, Library of Congress, Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 7p.m.

On Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 7:00 p.m., Cassandra Farrell will speak on Civil War Maps at the Library of Virginia. The Library of Virginia has very significant collection of Civil War maps, many done during the War, itself, and some done soon afterwards. Ms. Farrell will describe and illustrate the collection, and will offer suggestions on how research may be conducted on-line, and in person, at the Library. Cassandra Farrell is a Map Specialist and Senior Research Archivist at the Library of Virginia.

location: The conference will take place in the centre of Sint-Niklaas, located 30 minutes by train from Ghent and Antwerp and 15 km from Rupelmonde, the birthplace of Gerard Mercator. Deadline for submission of abstracts: September 1st, 2011 Deadline for submission of full papers: October 1st, 2011 Early bird registration and accommodation booking: October 15th, 2011 to January 15th, 2012 Regular registration: after January 15th, 2012

The conference
In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of
Gerard Mercator, the Cultural Heritage Cell Waasland and
Ghent University are delighted to anounce the international
conference ‘Mercator Revisited - Cartography in the Age of
Discovery’.
The conference will take place from April 25th-28th, 2012
in the city of Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.

The conference focuses on the place of cartography in general
and of Mercator specifically in the 16th century. The Age
of Discovery presented mapmakers with unprecedented
opportunity and scientifc obligation to collect, record and
categorise the world ‘as it was’. The greatest mapmakers of
the era were scientists, craftsmen and humanists combined,
influenced by international politics, science and philosophy.
This conference aims at giving a fresh impetus to the study
of Mercator and of the cartography of his time. It is open to
contributors with a background in a.o. geography, historical
cartography, history, art history or cultural heritage.

 Topics
The conference focuses on the following five main themes.
• Science and technology as related to cartography in
the age of Mercator
• Mercator’s inspiration and cartographic output
• Cartography and the Age of Discovery: the expanding
world view, iconography, ideologies of maps...
• New ways of approaching cartographic heritage in
view of new techniques
• Mercator’s entourage, world view, philosophy and
cosmology
In addition, contributions regarding other aspects of the life
and work of Mercator may also be proposed.

Keynotes
We are pleased to announce that keynote presentations will be
delivered by:
Prof. Jerry Brotton - Queen Mary, University of London
Prof. Mark Monmonier - Syracuse University
Dr. Thomas Horst - Universität der Bundeswehr München

Call for papers
We invite the following types of contributions:
• Abstracts of up to 500 words (in English) describing
original research must be submitted by September
1st, 2011.
• Full papers of up to 5000 words (in English) describing
original and unpublished research must be
submitted by October 1st, 2011.
A selection of high-quality submissions will be accepted for
presentation and included in the Conference Proceedings,
handed out during the event. The best peer-reviewed papers
will be considered for publication in a special issue of
the Cartographic Journal.
All submissions must be sent electronically via the website.

Registration
Registration will open in October 2011 via the registration
form on the website.

location: Gardner Room Emmanuel College, St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge CB2 3AP 5.30pm

Seminar led by Annaleigh Margey.  Refreshments will be provided after the seminar.