Abstract
The prospective value and contributions of GIS and the discipline of geography for historical scholarship can be informed by examining past works that fused history and geography, particularly the genre of the historical atlas. This essay considers, in particular, the significance of Charles O. Paullin and John K. Wright’s 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States. Still unmatched to this day in its comprehensive and innovative spatial representation of American history, the 1932 Atlas suggests two opportunities for a twenty-first century historical atlas of the United States. First, though Paullin and Wright adapted several techniques to show change over time on the printed pages, GIS and other geovisualization technologies offer us increasingly powerful ways to show and explore historical change on maps. Second, even as their atlas drew upon historiographical theories, Paullin and Wright denied that their atlas was a work of interpretative history; by explicitly conceiving of and designing maps and atlases as interpretative works we can amplify their scholarly significance and impact.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Franklin to Gilman, 14 February 1902, in Donnan and Stock (1956, 81).
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
A 2003 experimental article by William G. Thomas and Ayers, sponsored by the American Historical Review, did integrate evidence and interpretation, including geographic evidence, within the same digital entity (Thomas and Ayers, 2003).
- 6.
- 7.
See also Alexander von Lünen’s paper in this book on the question of historian’s genuine use of GIS and Alexi Baker’s paper on a more eclectic use of GIS by a historian.
- 8.
- 9.
Legal boundaries are drawn from the text of the Emancipation Proclamation and texts gathered in Ira Berlin et al. (1982–1993); data on the distribution of the enslaved population are courtesy of Minnesota Population Center, National Historical Geographic Information System: Version 2.0. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota 2011; the heatmap of emancipation events is derived from a kernel density analysis of data on emancipation obtained from reports detailing union military movements, May through September, 1864, as compiled in the United States War Dept. (1880–1901). An animated, interactive version of this map will appear in 2012 (http://dsl.richmond.edu/emancipation/). Thanks to Leslie Rowland for comments on previous versions of this map, which appeared in Ayers and Nesbit (2011).
- 10.
William T. Sherman to Lorenzo Thomas, June 21, 1864 in United States War Dept. (1880–1901, ser. 1, vol. 39, 2: 132).
References
Ayers EL (2003) In the presence of mine enemies: civil war in the heart of America. W. W. Norton, New York
Ayers EL (2005) What caused the civil war? Reflections on the south and southern history. W.W. Norton, New York
Ayers EL (2010) Turning toward space, place, and time. In: Bodenhamer DJ, Corrigan J, Harris TM (eds) The spatial humanities: GIS and the future of humanities scholarship. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1–13
Ayers EL, Nesbit S (2011) Seeing emancipation: scale and freedom in the American south. J Civ War Era 1(1):3–22
Beard C, Beard M (1927) Rise of American civilization, vol 1. MacMillan, New York
Black J (1997) Maps and history: constructing images of the past. Yale University Press, New Haven
Cappon LJ (1979) The historical map in American atlases. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 69(4):622–634
Cappon LJ, Petchenik BB, Long JH (1976) Atlas of early American history: the revolutionary era 1760–1790. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Carnes MC, Garraty JA, Williams P (1996) Mapping America’s past: a historical atlas. Henry Holt, New York
Channing E, Hart AB (1896) Guide to the study of American history. Ginn, Boston
Cook KS (2002) The historical role of photomechanical techniques in map production. Cartogr Geogr Inf Sci 29:137–154
Dobson JE (1983) Automated geography. Prof Geogr 35:135–143
Donnan E, Stock LF (eds) (1956) An historian’s world: selections from the correspondence of John Franklin Jameson. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia
Goodchild MF (1991) Just the facts. Polit Geogr Q 10:335–337
Harley J (1989) Historical geography and the cartographic illusion. J Hist Geogr 15:85–86
Harrower M (2004) A look at the history and future of animated maps. Cartographica 39:33–42
Higham J (1965) History: professional scholarship in America. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Ira Berlin et al (eds) (1982–1993) Freedom: a documentary history of emancipation, 1861–1867, 8 vols. Cambridge University Press, New York
Karpinski LC (1934) Review of ‘atlas of the historical geographical geography of the united states’ by Charles O. Paullin. Isis 22:308
Meinig DW (1986–2004) The shaping of America: a geographical perspective on 500 years of history, 4 vols. Yale University Press, New Haven
Merk F (1933) Review of ‘atlas of the historical geographical geography of the united states’ by Charles O. Paullin. New Engl Q 6:621
Paullin CO (1932) Atlas of the historical geography of the united states. Carnegie Institution of Washington and the American Geographical Society of New York, n.p.
Schulten S (2011) Thematic cartography and the study of American history. In: Daniels S, DeLyser D, Entrikin JN, Richardson D (eds) Envisioning landscapes, making worlds: geography and history. Routledge, New York, pp 55–61
Tanner H, Reiff J, Long JH, Hoerder D, Dobyns HF (eds) (1995) The settling of North America: the atlas of the great migrations into North America from the ice age to the present. Macmillan Press, New York
Taylor PJ (1990) Editorial comment GKS. Polit Geogr Q 9:211–212
Thomas WG, Ayers EL (2003) The difference slavery made: a close analysis of two American communities. http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/AHR/. Accessed 02 Dec 2011
Turner FJ (1925) Significance of the section in American history. Wis Mag Hist 8(3):255–280
United States War Dept (1880–1901) The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the union and confederate armies. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, published in 4 series (70 volumes in total)
Wilgus AC (1932) Review of ‘atlas of the historical geographical geography of the united states’ by Charles O. Paullin. Hisp Am Hist Rev 13:232
Wood D (1987) Pleasure in the idea/The atlas as narrative form. Cartographica 24(1):24–66
Wright JK (1932) Sections and national growth: an atlas of the historical geography of the united states. Geogr Rev 22(3):353–360
Wright JK (1942) Map makers are human: comments on the subjective in maps. Geogr Rev 32(4):527–544
Wright JK (1947) Terrae incognitae: the place of the imagination in geography. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 37(1):1–15
Wright DJ, Goodchild MF, Proctor JD (1997) GIS: tool or science? Demystifying the persistent ambiguity of GIS as ‘tool’ versus ‘science’. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 87:346–362
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ayers, E.L., Nelson, R.K., Nesbit, C.S. (2013). Maps of Change: A Brief History of the American Historical Atlas. In: von Lünen, A., Travis, C. (eds) History and GIS. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5009-8_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5009-8_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5008-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5009-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)