Making Air Quality Visible for Community Action

How can community-based participatory research in Chinatown and Somerville build power for environmental justice? Our conversation with Lydia Lowe of the Chinatown Community Land Trust, Doug Brugge of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and Ellin Reisner of the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership discussed a decade-long partnership between community leaders and academic researchers working to improve air quality. We also showed historic maps of the transportation infrastructure of these two areas from the 19th century to the present, underscoring the deep roots of these air quality challenges.

Watch the discussion → 

Online Event: Urban Development and Community Resilience in Roxbury · May 24, 6pm

Interested in community land trusts and sustainable development? Join us for the next event in our Continued Conversations series as we speak with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) about organizing and community control in development processes in Roxbury. DSNI Executive Director, John Smith, and Director of Community Organizing, René Mardones, will explain the origins of DSNI origins and discuss current initiatives as we walk through the neighborhood’s history through maps from our collections.

Register for free → 

Trivia is Back! · May 26, 6pm ET

How much do you really know about the map of Boston? We’re excited to say that our first in-person trivia event since 2020 is coming up in two weeks! Join the Leventhal Center and the Charles River Conservancy on May 26 at 6pm in the Newsfeed Café at the Central Library. We’ll have trivia rounds featuring a geographic scavenger hunt with Atlascope, questions about the historic Charles River, and tests of your modern Charles River pop culture knowledge. We’ll have some exciting map-related prizes, so tell your friends and form a team! (And if you want to brush up on your geography geek skills: watch the video from one of our remote trivia nights.) Drinks and food will be available for purchase.

Register for free → 

Parks and Open Space, 200 Years After Olmsted

In a recent New Yorker article titled “The Future of Public Parks”, architecture and design critic Alexandra Lange explores the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted through conversations with contemporary landscape architects. She contends with the way that parks can breed exclusivity and higher prices that are at odds with Olmsted’s stated values of public access and democratic urbanism. Boston’s Emerald Necklace even makes an appearance in the article—see our own recent article from Megan Nally to discover maps in our collection that showcase Olmsted’s early designs for green space in this city.

Read the article → 

We're Hiring!

We’re already beginning to plan the first stages of work on our 2023 exhibition, Building Up, which will focus on our local-scale history in Greater Boston and the stories that can be discovered in our collection of fire insurance atlases. Can you imagine yourself as part of that project? We’ve just opened a search for an Exhibition Curatorial Fellow who will take a lead role in planning, researching, and producing content for the physical and digital exhibition. Applications are due May 23.

See the job posting → 

Have ideas for an EJ event in the BPL branches?

The Boston Public Library has issued a call to community partners for programming ideas related to “the environment and the world around us, including climate change/justice and environmental activism.” Event partners that are selected will help craft an event or event series that can use BPL spaces in branches and can be partially or fully-funded by the BPL. We’re eager to help support applications that connect with our More or Less in Common exhibition. Applications are due on Friday, May 13; email us for more information about partnering with the BPL and Leventhal Center.

Reach out to discuss → 

Leventhal City Prize: Submission Deadline Extended to June 8

Our sibling institution, the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism at MIT (LCAU), has extended the call for submissions for the Norman B. Leventhal City Prize. In its current cycle, the Leventhal City Prize is soliciting novel responses focused on Digital Urbanism. Learn more about the prize and how to submit a proposal.

More about the City Prize →