Growing New England’s Cities

What can a visualization of population growth tell us about different moments in New England’s economic geography? In his latest article, Garrett Dash Nelson analyzes eras of New England’s economic and urban geography by using spatial patterns of population growth in Census records from 1790 to 2010. Can you guess which MA towns ranked amongst the largest cities in the entire nation at the time of the first Census?

Read the article → 

New Additions to the LMEC Team

We’re thrilled to introduce the Spring 2023 cohort of Leventhal Center college interns! Their work touches on nearly all aspects of what we do at the Center, including educational outreach, donor engagement, and web-based georeferencing. Learn more about what they’re discovering as they spend time in our gallery, in our collections, and working on our projects.

Read the interview → 

In-Person: Boston's Unrecognized Preservationists · March 30, 6:00pm ET

Do hours pass by as you stare at old maps? Do you like learning about the history of our city’s streets? Join us with the Boston Preservation Alliance for a presentation by Maddie Webster on Boston’s Unrecognized Preservationists: Black Homeowners in Roxbury in the Postwar Era and a live demonstration by Garrett Dash Nelson of LMEC’s Atlascope tool.

Register for free → 

2023 Carolyn A. Lynch Summer Teacher Fellowship

Are you a teacher who teaches Boston history or contemporary issues in Boston? Join us this summer as a teacher fellow! As a summer fellow you will work with Map Center education staff and librarians, learn basic GIS mapmaking and other digital tools, adapt and create lessons to use in your classroom, and more. Applications due May 1.

Learn more and apply → 

"Visualizing Little Syria" on Display at MIT

Boston’s Little Syria thrived between the 1880s and 1950s in today’s Chinatown and South End, yet few Bostonians are familiar with it. Drawing from photographs, property maps, and memoirs of Syrian- and Lebanese-Americans, this exhibition by Lydia Harrington and Chloe Bordewich (two awardees of our 2022-2023 Small Grants Program) narrates the history of a neighborhood which is nearly invisible today. On display at MIT Rotch library through March 31.

Plan your visit →