Upcoming Events

Our first events of the new year are fast approaching!

Virtual · January 14, 6:30 pm ET: In this talk, based on his recent book The Map in the Machine, Luis F. Alvarez León examines how digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, charting these changes through MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. Register here.

Virtual · January 16, 7 pm ET: The Washington Map Society will host a conversation with Ian Spangler and Emily Bowe, the co-curators of Processing Place: How Computers and Cartographers Redrew Our World, with an overview of the exhibition and discussion about the rise of computer cartography. Register here.

Both programs are part of our ongoing exhibition, Processing Place: How Computers and Cartographers Redrew Our World.

Learn more about the exhibition → 

Mapping Boston’s Arts

Maybe you knew that the Museum of Fine Arts once sat on Copley Square next to the BPL—but did you know there were once two art schools in the area as well? In this chronological journey through the neighborhoods that shaped Boston’s fine arts culture, the Leventhal Center’s Fall 2024 Co-op student Sam Walker details the founding and initial steps of nineteenth-century Boston’s burgeoning fine arts community.

Read the article → 

Your Support Makes Our World Go Around!

2024 was a year for the books! This past year, our gallery saw three different exhibits (Getting Around Town, Heaven & Earth, and Processing Place), we hosted 38 public events, and welcomed over 57,000 visitors. Our digital collection continued to support research and discovery, with over 246,000 visitors searching for maps. Additionally, we added 21 new atlas layers to Atlascope as part of our project to expand our coverage of Massachusetts towns. This past year was one of growth for our Education team, as we welcomed three new staff members and hosted 31 visits from local schools.

We’re grateful for our community of friends and geography enthusiasts—we look forward to spending 2025 continuing to strengthen and expand our commitment to free and accessible collections and resources, public interpretation and research, and work with educators and students. If you’d like to help support new and innovative projects in 2025, please consider supporting us with a gift of any size.

Support our programs → 

From The Vault December Roundup

In December, we hosted two From The Vault events: Unconventional Maps, which highlighted a variety of unconventional cartographic styles, and LMEC Community: Best Maps of 2024, which featured the most popular maps accessed in our digital collections in 2024. These events asked our visitors to think deeper about each map’s creation and purpose, and we invite you explore these same questions in these roundup articles.

Read the highlights → 

Call for Proposals: Boston Digital Research and Pedagogy Symposium

The Greater Boston Digital Research and Pedagogy Symposium is a regional, one-day gathering of students, scholars, librarians, and other practitioners from the New England area working at the intersection of technology and the humanities. Hosted this year at the Boston Public Library on April 11, the Symposium provides an opportunity for promoting cross-institutional collaboration and showcases diverse perspectives in the digital humanities.

The Program Committee now welcomes submissions covering a wide variety of topics related to the application of technology, computation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to humanities research, pedagogy, and professional practice. Apply by Monday, February 3, 2025 to be considered.

Learn more about the application → 

Newsletter Trivia: Boston Landfilling

By 1880, the original Shawmut Peninsula where Boston was established had undergone a massive transformation, thanks to landmaking efforts on every side of the city’s shoreline. Though most efforts were completed at this time, a few landfilling projects continued through the mid-1950s. Of the options below, which received significant landfilling most recently?

1. Back Bay
2. Mill Pond
3. Logan International Airport
4. South End

The answer to the question “what is the name of the last remaining ‘New York Street’ in Boston” is Albany Street.

Correct answers will be included in a random draw—the winner will receive the next three Map of the Month club postcards for free. Congratulations to our last winner, Jess! In order to enter, make sure you follow us on Instagram or Facebook and direct message or email us the answer to the following question. We’ll accept answers until January 17 at 9 am ET.

Message us on Instagram → 

Shop Discount

Happy New Year, LMEC community! We’ve got some big plans for 2025 and we’re so happy to be starting the year with you. Use the code LMECNEWYEAR for free shipping on any order from our gift shop.

Visit the gift shore →