Mission
The New York Map Society exists to encourage and promote the study, research, use, creation, preservation, and appreciation of all forms of maps and the history of cartography. Our interests encompass all eras and methodologies, from antique to contemporary maps, including digital and computer-generated maps. Our mission is pursued through numerous means, including periodic lectures and field trips, maintaining a website and social media presence, supporting individuals or organizations aligned with our mission, and publishing articles or posts about maps. The New York Map Society was founded in 1978 and is a non-profit corporation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, offering educational, academic, and research programs for anyone interested in maps.
LATEST NEWS
UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, February 16, 2023 (Organized in conjunction with the Library of Congress Philip Lee Phillips Society)
The Mapping of Race in America: The Legacy of Slavery and Redlining from 1860 to Present. The mapping of the racial demographics of the United States has a long and difficult history. From the earliest counts of enslaved individuals and the practice of redlining, to the under counts of various groups in modern Census tabulations, there have always been questions about both its purpose and its accuracy.
We’re excited to tell you about our first in-person members-only “Show & Tell” and Social Hour since December 2019. Saturday, February 11, 2023, 2:00 – 4:00 pm at Ned Davis’ map-filled Manhattan apartment. First come, first served, for 2023 paid members only, with a limit of 10 presenters and a total of 20 attendees. Your society will pick up the cost of appetizers, soft drinks, wine and beer.
THURSDAY March 16, 2023. Open-Source Maps: Mapping the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.This briefing will focus on the Institute for the Study of War’s open-source methodology as their team collects, processes, analyzes, and interprets data that supports their maps and written prose assessments. The brief will also present analytical decisions ISW has made on how they structure maps, what they show and do not show, how they do source characterization, caveat confidence levels, and leverage remote sensing technology.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Behold the Mapmaker: Cartographic Self-Portraits. The lives of early modern cartographers are poorly documented compared with those of contemporary writers and painters, yet a source for insights into the lives of cartographers—the self-portraits that they sometimes include in their maps—is largely unexplored. These self-portraits are an important part of the social history of cartography, of how cartographers chose to present themselves; they also function as visual signatures, guarantees of quality, and expressions of pride. In this talk I will examine some of the more striking and evocative cartographic self-portraits from the earliest surviving case in the fourteenth century to examples from pictorial maps of the twentieth century.