iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Our walls are filling up! We’ve heard about family legacies, first homes, and favorite local attractions—and we want to hear from you too. Share Your Where today! Go to atlascope.org to capture your favorite historic view. Then, donate to our programs and we’ll display your view and caption.

Printed images of Atlascope pinned to a corkboard

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Created by Jesuit priest and scholar Athanasius Kircher, this intriguing map of the earth was included in his 1665 treatise “Mundus Subterraneus.” Kircher’s early theories combined religion and science, and looked to scripture for evidence in Earth’s formation.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

🏫 Welcome to back-to-school season! Every day, we see more college students on the Green Line and herds of elementary schoolers at the BPL. Here at the Leventhal Center we’re busy setting up our new Where Workshop, a reimagining of our gallery to activate geographic learning for all visitors.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

In response to the exploitative living and working conditions facing many immigrants, reformers in the late nineteenth century founded “settlement houses,” volunteer social service agencies with the goal of improving impoverished urban districts.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

While "Declarations: Printing A New Nation" may be closed, the digital exhibition remains on our website! This means you can still access resources like a fully digitized copy of "Walker’s Appeal … to the Colored Citizens of the World" or make a research appointment to view it up close.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

🐄 ➡️ 🐀 Before Allston was “Rat City,” it was cow city, a thriving hub for Boston’s cattle trade! The Brighton Stockyards, seen here in 1882, anchored the Allston-Brighton neighborhood for over a hundred years and helped ferry cattle, swine, and sheep through the state.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Originally displayed at Chicago's 1893 World Fair, this reconstructed map shows the distribution of major Indigenous language families at the time of European contact.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Trivia is back! Join us for the Maps on Tap Trivia Night at Aeronaut Brewing on September 28 at 8:00 pm. Come to test your knowledge on the history of Boston’s transportation, rivers, neighborhoods, parks, and more! Aeronaut gift cards and prizes of maps will be awarded to winning teams!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

🖼️ What historical place would you like to share? 🔍 This fall, inspire our visitors with historical views of your favorite college campus building, neighborhood "square", or Boston landmark!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

One of the most commonly asked questions in our gallery is, "Why do some of the s's look like f's?" The answer is: because that's a 'long s'!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Do you recognize which iconic Boston landmark this view is from? Before construction for the Prudential Tower began in 1960, the 23-acre site in Back Bay was a freight yard for the Boston & Albany Railroad.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Share Your Where on atlascope.org! 🏫 This fall, the Leventhal Center will open the Where Workshop, a fresh take on our exhibition space that emphasizes geographic learning for both kids and adults. Ahead of the opening on October 9, this is your opportunity to Share Your Where with the class!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This colorful map shows the northernmost part of South America in the early twentieth century.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The Leventhal Center gallery will be closed Monday, September 14 through Thursday, October 8 as we prepare for the opening of our Where Workshop.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

How do globes shape our perception of the world? In this From the Vault collections showing, take a look at globes of all kinds: terrestrial, celestial, even collapsible paper globes developed for classrooms.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

What happens when residents advocate for their needs, and the state listens? In 1948, a proposal was made for an 8-lane highway from Canton to the South End as part of the state’s larger “Master Highway Plan.”

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It's time for another spotlight on Maps in the Field! This project brings maps to businesses, organizations, and institutions throughout the Boston area. Today, we’re excited to feature two Maps in the Field signs at the Brattle Book Shop.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The Radioactive Waste Campaign, a branch of the Sierra Club active in the 1980s, published this map with the goal of sounding the alarm about the danger of nuclear weapons. This poster was issued as part of the campaign's book, "Deadly Defense: Military Radioactive Landfills".

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Even before the automobile, developers were using maps to promote the advantages of living on the edge of the city. This promotional map of Fairbanks Park, a 1890s streetcar suburb, is lined with boastful claims: “See the accessibility! See the terms! No taxes! No interest!”

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Our Maps in the Field signage can be found throughout the Boston area, including @bpl.boston.gov branch libraries!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Historians and geographers have long held interest in early depictions of the region known within Abrahamic faith traditions as “the Holy Land.” This From the Vault collections shows maps from the sixteenth to early twentieth centuries with a range of historical perspectives of the Southern Levant

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Have you heard about our Maps in the Field project? We bring maps into the world through signs throughout the Boston area. We’re excited to spotlight one of our recent signs at The Foundry, made in partnership with @cambridgecra.bsky.social.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Have you ever wondered how Boston used to smell? This map from 1878 was made by the Boston Board of Health, at a time when the growing city was confronting issues about waste and public health.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

We are excited! See the event description and register here, registration is free but required. www.leventhalmap.org/event/author...

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Author Talk: Dylan Gottlieb on "Yuppies" - Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Happy Sticker Sunday, we all know good things come in threes! Enjoy these pulls hidden in our collections item, "The land of make believe" by Jaro Hess. Screenshot your favorites from this carousel, then press and hold to save them as stickers on your phone.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Our "Maps in the Field" project brings maps to businesses, organizations, and sites throughout the Boston area. We recently installed a sign at Brookline Booksmith @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Gesandtschaftsviertel in Peking (which translates to "Legation Quarter in Peking" in English) is a 1903 Prussian survey mapping the diplomatic enclave in Beijing at a precise 1:3,000 scale.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

If you’ve ever been to the beach, you know that shorelines fluctuate between land and sea with the ebb and flow of the tide. But how do you map something that is always in motion?

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Our Maps in the Field project brings maps to businesses, organizations, and sites throughout the Boston area. Today, we’re spotlighting two signs at Bow Market in Somerville!

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Factories and ships pepper this bird’s-eye view of Boston in 1870. In the foreground on the right, the new Back Bay neighborhood is beginning to emerge; at the very bottom of the second slide, laborers are shown constructing new buildings on Clarendon Street.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Happy Sticker Sunday!! A well-placed sticker in your group chat can be unbelievably satisfying. We gathered some fresh options for you from our collection! Screenshot your favorites from this carousel, then press and hold to save them as stickers on your phone.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Have you seen our new project? 👀 Our “Maps in the Field” signs can now be found throughout the Boston area. By featuring historic maps, the signs interpret the histories of the locations in which they are installed.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

How can textiles help us understand geography? Come to our next From the Vault showing to find out! From hand-embroidered globes stitched by schoolchildren to silk escape maps sewn into the jackets of WWII pilots, textile maps prove that cartography doesn't have to live on paper.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Where did Boston's waste go? One of the most extensive and ambitious infrastructure projects that was carried out during the height of Boston’s industrial era was the construction of a vast network of sewer and pumping systems to handle the metropolitan area’s waste.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This map uses a graphic technique to argue that New York City was already a mostly socialist community by the end of the 19th century. It uses just two colors: red, the printing color, and the negative white space of the paper color.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

What can a Korean star chart from the MacLean Collection tell us about the heavens it was made to govern? Salvatore Martinelli explores this topic in the essay "Two Epistemologies of the Sky," which thinks about the order and allocated fields of astrological elements in the Korean court.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Have you heard of "By the People"? It's the Library of Congress's (@librarycongress.bsky.social ) crowdsourced transcription project, where volunteers have been transcribing, reviewing, and tagging digitized pages from the collections since 2018.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Excited for the World Cup Final? In this "From The Vault" collections showing, explore these and other historic maps of the World Cup finalists just before the end of the tournament. Registration not required. Drop by our Learning Center on Friday, July 17 any time between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

This map of Fairyland depicts places from nursery rhymes, fairy tales, Arthurian legends and the folktales of many cultures. collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commo...

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Watch Matthew Dickey (@streetscapescurator) and Garrett Dash Nelson explore the history of Boston's Back Bay using Atlascope! youtu.be/Aq6hdPAdZ8U

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Do you see your bike route? 🚲️ This vibrant 1990 map is a revised and redesigned edition of the Boston Bike Map first published by the Metropolitan Planning Organization in 1978. collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commo... @streets.boston.gov

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Have you ever peered into a Directomat? In 1969, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) funded a pilot program for a “public environmental information system” depicted in these photos. Learn more in our digital exhibition, Processing Place. www.leventhalmap.org/digital-exhi...

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

The celestial model displayed here, referred to as an orrery, was used as an educational tool to demonstrate the movements of the Earth, moon and Venus relative to one another and the sun.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Here comes the sun! In 1990 the Boston Redevelopment Authority—with assistance from @sasakidesign—plotted building shadows at 8:00 am across Downtown Boston and Back Bay on the Summer and Winter solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Happy (almost) Independence Day! To commemorate the occasion, BPL Special Collections (@bpl.boston.gov) will be displaying additional collection items for a one-day open house on Thursday, July 2 at 12:00 pm.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

How did a single tree become an important symbol of the Boston Common early in Boston’s history? 🌳 Amanda Martin tackles this question in the essay "Trees Across Time: An Arboreal History of the Boston Common," which narrates the history of the Boston Common with trees as the main characters.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

How do public budgets shape civic life? ⚖️ Register here to learn how residents can contribute to their city’s budget processes: www.leventhalmap.org/event/budget...

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

What does home look like to you? Join us in person on Wednesday, May 27 from 4:00–6:00 pm for a community map creation project! In this workshop, led by Dr. Meghan Kelly, we will collectively create map icons related to home and housing for the city of Boston. Register today: luma.com/d23v2l1y

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

From wagon trails to railroad networks, from tenement blocks to national portraits, maps offer a uniquely rich window into the many dimensions of migration. This drop-in showing will be hosted Friday, May 22 from 2:00–4:00 pm in the Learning Center. No advance registration is required.

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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Can AI change the way we explore historic maps? Find out in our upcoming free virtual talk, Katherine McDonough on AI and Map Collections! Monday, May 18 · 2:00 pm EDT Co-hosted by BPL Digital Services (@bpl.boston.gov) and the Leventhal Map & Education Center. Register now → luma.com/p782j2e7

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