Making Your Sweet Home among Maps: How to Read and Interpret Maps of the Southeastern United States

Do old maps enchant or intimidate you? Do the symbols intrigue or confuse you? Make plans to attend Making Your Sweet Home among Maps: How to Read and Interpret Maps of the Southeastern United States on Saturday, April 8th at 10 am in the Arrington Auditorium.  This workshop is perfect for any map lover or if you are researching your ancestors who lived in the Southeast.

Dr. Melinda Kashuba will be your guide to the symbols and mapping conventions used on 19th and early 20th century maps and will use original maps from Birmingham Public Library’s cartography collection. You will learn how to interpret and analyze information contained on old maps as well as look for hidden meaning behind what was mapped and what was left off the map. Dr. Kashuba holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a popular lecturer and author of Walking with Your Ancestors: a Genealogist’s Guide to Using Maps and Geography plus numerous articles in genealogical magazines and other publications. She is an adjunct instructor in Geography at Shasta College and is the 2016 recipient of the Gerald C. Hayward Award for Excellence in Community College Teaching given by the California Community College Foundation.

This hands-on workshop is part of our Beyond the Basics of Genealogy workshop series and will use maps featured in our Sweet Home: Alabama’s History in Maps exhibit, which is partially funded by the Alabama Humanities Foundation.  To register, please call the Southern History Department at 205-226-3665, e-mail us at askgenlocal@bham.lib.al.us, or online through the library’s calendar.