The Grolier Club Presents Torn in Two, a Civil War exhibit
The Grolier Club is pleased to present a unique exhibition that explores and illuminates the causes, conduct, and historical record of the Civil War through maps and other historic items. Torn in Two: the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, organized by The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center of the Boston Public Library, will open to the public on February 22, 2012.
This unique presentation - which will run through April 28 before continuing on its national tour - will showcase 50 historical objects including maps, photographs, prints, diaries, political cartoons, music, and press of the period. The overarching theme of the exhibition is the central role geography has played in the causes, conduct, consequences, and commemorations of the American Civil War.
The exhibit is divided into three major sections: Rising Tensions, which will examine the economic, social, and political differences between the North and the South that led to war; Nation in Conflict, which will focus on the war itself; and Remembering Battles and Heroes, which will document the nation’s attempts to commemorate the battles and honor the lives that were lost during the war.
Included in this remarkable selection are rare examples of photographic images depicting 19th-century slave life, the first American demographic map which was one of Abraham Lincoln’s key resources during the war, and Ensign, Bridgman and Fanning’s United States railroad map which revealed the contrast between the newly industrialized, increasingly urban North and the agrarian, rural culture of the South. Throughout the exhibition, the history of the national conflict is examined through the eyes of everyday citizens, helping to portray this most complex national schism in personal terms.
Torn in Two will feature a special emphasis on New York City that will challenge and engage visitors of all ages. Of particular interest to New York audiences will be Civil War battle maps and diagrams published in rare, original newspapers such as The New York Times, The New York Herald and New York Tribune. Also included will be a spectacular 1865 “bird’s eye view” map of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn published by Charles Parsons, so detailed that street patterns, church steeples and even chimney smoke are clearly visible, along with harbored ships in the distance.
A virtual exhibition of Torn in Two with digital images of all objects, as well as K-12 curriculum materials and educational resources based on the exhibition’s themes, are offered on the Leventhal Map Center’s website, maps.bpl.org and at tornintwo.org.
About the Leventhal Map Center - The Map Center was established in 2004 as a public-private partnership between the Boston Public library and map collector-philanthropist, Norman Leventhal. The Map Center’s mission is to make the Library’s extensive collection of more than 200,000 historic maps and 5,000 atlases dating from the 15th century to the present accessible to the general public and to promote their creative use in research and scholarship, education, and civic engagement. In October 2011, the Map Center opened a permanent, state-of-the-art Map and Study Center on the first floor of the library’s historic McKim Building in Copley Square, Boston.
Torn in Two is sponsored by the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.
LOCATION AND TIME: Torn in Two will be on view at the Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, from Feb. 22 - April 28, 2012. The exhibit will be open to the public free of charge, Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional information and directions are available at www.grolierclub.org.
CATALOGUE: A fully-illustrated 170-page catalog of Torn in Two, published by the Boston Public Library, will be available at the Grolier Club.
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE GROLIER CLUB
May 15 - July 28, 2012. Aaron Burr Returns to New York: An Exhibition on Burr and His Contemporaries.
Visit the Grolier Club website: www.grolierclub.org
This unique presentation - which will run through April 28 before continuing on its national tour - will showcase 50 historical objects including maps, photographs, prints, diaries, political cartoons, music, and press of the period. The overarching theme of the exhibition is the central role geography has played in the causes, conduct, consequences, and commemorations of the American Civil War.
The exhibit is divided into three major sections: Rising Tensions, which will examine the economic, social, and political differences between the North and the South that led to war; Nation in Conflict, which will focus on the war itself; and Remembering Battles and Heroes, which will document the nation’s attempts to commemorate the battles and honor the lives that were lost during the war.
Included in this remarkable selection are rare examples of photographic images depicting 19th-century slave life, the first American demographic map which was one of Abraham Lincoln’s key resources during the war, and Ensign, Bridgman and Fanning’s United States railroad map which revealed the contrast between the newly industrialized, increasingly urban North and the agrarian, rural culture of the South. Throughout the exhibition, the history of the national conflict is examined through the eyes of everyday citizens, helping to portray this most complex national schism in personal terms.
Torn in Two will feature a special emphasis on New York City that will challenge and engage visitors of all ages. Of particular interest to New York audiences will be Civil War battle maps and diagrams published in rare, original newspapers such as The New York Times, The New York Herald and New York Tribune. Also included will be a spectacular 1865 “bird’s eye view” map of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn published by Charles Parsons, so detailed that street patterns, church steeples and even chimney smoke are clearly visible, along with harbored ships in the distance.
A virtual exhibition of Torn in Two with digital images of all objects, as well as K-12 curriculum materials and educational resources based on the exhibition’s themes, are offered on the Leventhal Map Center’s website, maps.bpl.org and at tornintwo.org.
About the Leventhal Map Center - The Map Center was established in 2004 as a public-private partnership between the Boston Public library and map collector-philanthropist, Norman Leventhal. The Map Center’s mission is to make the Library’s extensive collection of more than 200,000 historic maps and 5,000 atlases dating from the 15th century to the present accessible to the general public and to promote their creative use in research and scholarship, education, and civic engagement. In October 2011, the Map Center opened a permanent, state-of-the-art Map and Study Center on the first floor of the library’s historic McKim Building in Copley Square, Boston.
Torn in Two is sponsored by the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.
LOCATION AND TIME: Torn in Two will be on view at the Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, from Feb. 22 - April 28, 2012. The exhibit will be open to the public free of charge, Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional information and directions are available at www.grolierclub.org.
CATALOGUE: A fully-illustrated 170-page catalog of Torn in Two, published by the Boston Public Library, will be available at the Grolier Club.
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE GROLIER CLUB
May 15 - July 28, 2012. Aaron Burr Returns to New York: An Exhibition on Burr and His Contemporaries.
Visit the Grolier Club website: www.grolierclub.org
