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• Ronald S. Gibbs: "The American Revolution Told in Ten Maps”

  • When
    Thursday, November 13, 2025
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Sponsored in partnership with California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies.

  Location: Zoom

  Time:  7:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT/ 5:00 PM MT/ 4:00 PM PT

  Title: “The American Revolution Told in Ten Maps”

  
  

  Speaker: Ronald S Gibbs, MD, President California Map Society, Clinical Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine

  Summary: To celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, this presentation will explore the political and military aspects of the war, using ten period maps from the Gibbs’ family’s collection. At the outset, the Americans were given little chance to gain independence against the mighty British forces. Yet, underlying the British power, there were telling weaknesses. Ron will report the key actions of the eight-years-long war and then analyze why the British lost and the Americans won.

  Bio: Ronald S. Gibbs, MD grew up in Philadelphia and developed a life-long passion for the American Revolution, cartography, and medical history.  During medical school, he researched 18th century medicine in London and won the History of Medicine Prize at graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.  He is President of the California Map Society. After medical school, he became an obstetrician-gynecologist. Early in his medical career, he served as a Major in the Army Medical Corps at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.  He is Clinical Professor and Knowles Distinguished Scholar at Stanford University and was formerly Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado. A nationally known expert on infections in pregnancy, he has written hundreds of medical articles and some on history; he has lectured nationally on medicine and on history. He has provided service to the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, March of Dimes, and numerous other professional organizations and medical journals. He lives in San Francisco near his children and grandchildren. The Long Shot: The Secret History of 1776, his first novel, was published in 2020.  The  sequel, The Rogue’s Plot, The Untold Story  of 1777, was published in 2024. His website is: http://ronaldsgibbs.com

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• Tom Harper: "Overview of the British Library's New Map Exhibition, 'Secret Maps'”

  • When
    Thursday, December 11, 2025
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Sponsored in partnership with California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies.

  Location: Zoom

  Time:  7:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT/ 5:00 PM MT/ 4:00 PM PT

  Title: “Overview of the British Library's New Map Exhibition, 'Secret Maps'”

  Speaker: Tom Harper, Lead Curator of Antiquarian Mapping, British Library

  Summary: In this presentation Tom will showcase the British Library’s forthcoming exhibition Secret Maps (24 October 2025 - 18 January 2026). Secret Maps will explore the relationship between maps and secrecy in a global context between the 14th and 21st centuries. Using relevant examples for a North American audience, Tom will introduce some of the exhibition’s key themes. These include the ways in which maps have been utilized by governments, armies, businesses, communities and individuals to withhold spatial knowledge. and the question of whether, in an age where spatial data is routinely shared and democratized, it is easier or more difficult to keep a secret today.

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• Mark Giordano: "Teaching Geopolitics with Maps”

  • When
    Thursday, January 22, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Sponsored in partnership with California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies.

  Location: Zoom

  Time:  7:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT/ 5:00 PM MT/ 4:00 PM PT

  Title: “Teaching Geopolitics with Maps”

  Speaker: Mark Giordano, Vice Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Geography, Georgetown University

  Summary: Georgetown University’s “Map of the Modern World” is likely the largest class in the world that still uses maps to teach geopolitics and world affairs. The current instructor will provide examples of how historic and contemporary maps and custom cartography are used to engage students in global issues and help them understand international challenges from multiple perspectives. Examples in the talk will include a Spanish colonial manuscript map of 18th century South America, maps of migratory bird flyways plotted on two different projections, and Google maps of Crimea generated in multiple countries.

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• Sam Cartwright: "Astrotopophilia: A Love of Place with Maps of Space”

  • When
    Thursday, February 19, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Sponsored in partnership with California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies.

  Location: Zoom

  Time:  7:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT/ 5:00 PM MT/ 4:00 PM PT

  Title: “Astrotopophilia: A Love of Place with Maps of Space”

  
  

  Speaker: Sam Cartwright, PhD candidate, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

  Summary: Whether a trail map of a serene forest or a plot of historical markers in a bustling city, maps help us understand and connect to the spaces we inhabit, creating a feeling of topophilia, or “love of place”. But what if a map shows a place that no human has ever been to? Can we ever truly know or love a distant, alien landscape with the help of a mere map? In this talk, we’ll trace the history of planetary cartography from the earliest telescope sketches to today’s high-resolution imagery and explore the indelible link between maps and humanity’s fascination with space.

  Bio: Sam Cartwright is a PhD candidate with the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. For his dissertation, he is developing novel mapping techniques to explore the composition of Mars’s crust and ice deposits, which are key to understanding the planet’s early formation and climate history. Sam was born and raised in Ogden, UT and previously earned degrees from Middlebury College (BA, 2018) and the University of Nevada Reno (MS, 2021). In 2024, he co-curated an exhibit on topophilia at CU’s Earth Sciences and Map Library. He enjoys film photography and collecting vintage maps and ephemera.

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• Louis Miller: "Resurrecting ‘Rhat Soupe’: Alcohol and Allegorical Maps in Mid-19th Century America”

  • When
    Thursday, March 19, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Sponsored in partnership with California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies.

  Location: Zoom

  Time:  7:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT/ 5:00 PM MT/ 4:00 PM PT

  Title: “Resurrecting ‘Rhat Soupe’: Alcohol and Allegorical Maps in Mid-19th Century America”

  Speaker: Louis Miller, Assistant Director for Research and Fellowship Programs and Cartographic Reference and Teaching Librarian, Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine

  Summary: What is 'rhat soupe' and what does it have to do with maps produced by the Temperance Movement? While perusing early photographic images to pair with John Cullum’s 1836 map of Portland, Louis came across an image of a store with an advertisement for "rhat soupe." Eager to learn more about how this nausea-inducing "soupe" gained its moniker, as well as what it was actually made out of, his research led him down a rabbit hole that ultimately reveals the clever cartographic arguments utilized nationally by the Temperance Movement in the 1830s as well as how "rhat soupe" and the 1835 court case that inspired its name, fundamentally shifted the platform of the American Temperance Society.

  Bio: Louis Miller is the Assistant Director for Research and Fellowship Programs and Cartographic Reference and Teaching Librarian at the University of Southern Maine’s Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education (OML). He has been at the OML for five years. Prior to his current role he worked for five years at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, primarily with the manuscript, graphics, and map collections. He published his research article "'Honor For All'? Commemoration of the First World War in Kalamazoo," in volume 45, no. 2 of the Michigan Historical Review (Fall 2019) and is currently enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Maine pursuing a doctorate in history. His current research focuses on maps, visual culture, and community identity in the mid-19th century. Louis lives in South Portland with his spouse, three sons, and two cats.

  Planning to attend?   

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