Early D.C. Maps and Documents at GW's New Museum

The George Washington University Museum in Washington, D.C. will host its grand opening on Saturday with two exhibits from the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection of historic maps and documents. Small donated the collection to GW in 2011, along with $5 million toward the renovation of the museum on its Foggy Bottom campus. The result is a 53,000-square-foot LEED Gold-certified museum complex housing the Textile Museum, the historic Woodhull House, the Arthur D. Jenkins Library, and the Small Center for National Capital Area Studies.

To inaugurate the complex, two exhibits of Small material will go on display. Seat of Empire: Planning Washington, 1790-1801 will consider urban design and the landscape of early D.C. through rare maps and related images. The Civil War and the Making of Modern Washington will track the city's evolution from war-time encampment through Reconstruction with prints, maps, and illustrations from the period.  

The Smithsonian Press has also issued a new illustrated book, The Evolution of Washington, D.C.: Historical Selections from the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection at the George Washington University, featuring 90 pieces of memorabilia from the collection.
 
You can read more about Small's "Capital Collection" and GW's new museum in our spring issue.

Image: Map of Future Site of Washington, D.C., 1790. From the Albert H. Small - George Washington University Washingtoniana Collection.