March 21, 2022
Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their sixth assessment report on the state of the global climate. In this report, IPCC drew attention to the fact that climate change is not only a problem of science, energy, and technology, but also a problem that demands “attention to equity and justice.” That connection between environmentalism and social justice is exactly the topic that we investigate in our new exhibition More or Less in Common, which opened at the Central Library in Copley Square this past Friday. I hope you’ll have a chance to come and see it, or to browse the digital exhibition if you’re not in Boston. It’s a show which brings all the strengths of the Map Center together, from historic collections that document past environments to original data visualizations challenging us to imagine a more just future.
Join us for a curatorial introduction to More or Less in Common
On March 30, the National Park Service will open their Olmsteds: Legacies and Landscapes symposium here in Boston with a special guided visit to More or Less in Common. This event is open to the general public—join us for a curatorial introduction to the new exhibition and to browse the gallery. Wednesday, March 30, 6 pm. Free registration required.
Of Odors and Esplanades
Invisible features like sunlight and noise shape how we move through and engage with cities, even though we don’t see, feel, or touch them in the same way we might touch the dirt in a park or the bricks on a building. In this article, Ian Spangler focuses on one of these ephemeral qualities that has shaped environmental management in Boston—odor—by taking a close look at an 1878 map of the city’s nuisance smells..
Geo Challenge: Environmental Justice in Massachusetts
Last week on Instagram, we ran a geo challenge showing aerial imagery of five environmental justice sites in Massachusetts, connecting to case studies from More or Less in Common. How many of these five places can you recognize from the air?
Printed reproductions: 50% off for a limited time
To celebrate the opening of our new exhibition, we’ve added six new high-quality map reproductions of objects featured in the show to our online store. If you place your order for in-gallery pickup, use the code EXHIBITION-OPEN for 50% off all reproductions, now through April 1.
A rediscovered map of the Amazon
A map of the Amazon long thought to be lost has been found in the MacLean Collection Map Library. This manuscript map of the Amazon region was made in 1755 by Anselm Franz Eckart after a map compiled by János Nepomuk Szluha in 1753. In this Map Chat commissioned by the MacLean Collection’s Richard Pegg, the historian of cartography Mirela Altic describes this fascinating new find that helps us better understand European imperial mapping in South America.
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