Here to There: A History of Mapping
Rambles Through Our Country — An Instructive Geographical Game for the Young, 1890.
The red state/blue state representation of the U.S. was originally intended to tell us something about electoral politics. But it has come to stand in for a lot more than that. So how did that map’s cultural meaning come to be so fixed?
In the spirit of this question, we’re devoting this episode of BackStory to maps, and asking how the ways in which Americans have charted space illustrate the ways in which they’ve understood themselves socially. Over the course of the hour, the History Guys explore the layered meanings of several key maps. These include a map that helped forge sectional alliances in the lead-up to the Civil War; a colonial-era map that illustrates how Native Americans understood space; a collection of maps that Woodrow Wilson thought might lead to world peace; and an 1890 map designed to minimize conflict over natural resources in the American West. And – the History Guys uncover the curious story of the map that gave America its name.
Guests Include:
- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame
- Susan Schulten, Professor of History at the University of Denver
- S. Max Edelson, Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia
- Wes Reisser, Adjunct Professor of Geography at George Washington University
- Donald Worster, Professor of History at the University of Kansas
Further Exploration:
View the maps featured on this episode.
Listen to individual show segments.
Delve into some of the outside resources pulled together by the BackStory team in order to illustrate the full scale of the history of mapping in the United States, and take a look at a bibliography of sources used in the making of this episode.
Even Further:
See a listing of music used in this episode.
Read the listener comments that helped shape this episode.
9 Responses
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
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Here to There: Music | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] This is a list of the music used in the BackStory episode “Here to There: A History of Mapping,” broadcast in August 2012. You can listen to the entire episode here. [...]
Quote -- August 10, 2012 @ 3:23 pm -
Here to There: Featured Maps | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] of Mapping” which originally aired in August 2012. You can listen to the entire episode here. Map Showing the Distribution of the Slave Population of the Southern States of the United States, [...]
Quote -- August 10, 2012 @ 3:24 pm -
Here to There: Show Segments | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] The following are individual show segments included in the BackStory episode “Here to There: A History of Mapping,” broadcast in August of 2012. You can listen to the entire episode here. [...]
Quote -- August 13, 2012 @ 12:39 pm -
Media Mining Digest 41 – Aug 24, 2012: Wind Energy Policy, Publishing Pains, Placenta Protection, Babbage, Chinese Blogger, Coursera, Femto-photography, Evernote Founder, Agent Garbo, Integration in U.S., Quackcasts, Mike Tech Show, Health Care in U.S., :
[...] Maps in U.S. 53 mins – “we’re devoting this episode of BackStory to maps, and asking how the ways in which Americans have charted space illustrate the ways in which they’ve understood themselves socially.” Click the link, then right-click “Download” and select “Save Target As” to download. [...]
Quote -- August 24, 2012 @ 11:04 am -
An alternative map of the American west- Mapping the Nation Blog :
[...] month I was interviewed by BackStory with the American History Guys for a show on the role maps have played in history. The story included a segment with Don Worster, an eminent [...]
Quote -- September 12, 2012 @ 1:54 pm -
Civil War 150: Mapping Slavery, Pt. 1 | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] The following is the first of a two-part interview that was included in the BackStory episode “Here to There: A History of Mapping,” broadcast in August 2012. You can listen to the entire episode here. [...]
Quote -- September 26, 2012 @ 2:00 pm -
Civil War 150: Mapping Slavery, Pt. 2 | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] The following is the second half of a two-part interview featured in the BackStory episode “Here to There: A History of Mapping.” You can listen to the entire episode here. [...]
Quote -- September 26, 2012 @ 2:08 pm -
Best of Times: BackStory Year in Review | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] Here to There: A History of Mapping [...]
Quote -- December 28, 2012 @ 3:38 pm -
Amerigo « Half Mandrill, Half Mandela :
[...] this segment, from the BackStory episode about maps (I swear to God, a history podcast about maps is interesting. Really. Swear.), guest Felipe [...]
Quote -- February 8, 2013 @ 11:46 am
