糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Center for Arkansas History and Culture Completes Major Map Digitization Project
The Center for Arkansas History and Culture (CAHC) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has completed a year-long project to preserve and digitize nearly 800 historic maps, thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Arkansas Community Foundation.
The grant, awarded in June 2024, allowed the CAHC to inventory, organize, scan, and rehouse 788 maps. The maps, which range from a 1712 depiction of New France to a 1960 urban renewal project plan from Little Rock, are now accessible online for the public to view. Many are already integrated into CAHC鈥檚 growing digital exhibit, 鈥�.鈥�
鈥淭his project was about more than just preservation,鈥� said Dr. Jess Porter, director of CAHC. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about bringing Arkansas history into the hands of researchers, students, and curious minds anywhere in the world. These maps are snapshots in time, and now anyone can explore them from their own home.鈥�
For Porter, a trained geographer and former cartography professor, the collection held personal significance.
鈥淚 love all things spatial,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a geographer, maps are how we understand the world. At CAHC, I have the privilege of directing an archive full of them, and now we have intellectual control and accessibility in ways we鈥檝e never had before.鈥�
James Wethington, archivist and engagement coordinator at the CAHC, led the project, assisted by undergraduate student Cole Hadden and graduate assistant Noah Adebanjo. The work involved not only scanning and cataloging the maps but also developing a thematic organizational system and creating a comprehensive finding aid.
鈥淥ur only record of many of these maps used to be in an old card catalog,鈥� Wethington said. 鈥淣ow, the entire map collection is digitized and searchable. That鈥檚 a dream come true for an archivist.鈥�
The searchable collection, available on the CAHC digital platform, includes categories such as Arkansas cities, U.S. regions, and world maps. Among the highlights are:
路 A beautifully detailed 1712 map of New France by cartographer Herman Moll
路 A 1907 map of Fort Smith, Oklahoma, a proposed sister city to Fort Smith that never came to pass
路 A 1923 Arkansas railroad map by F.L. Blaisdell
路 A 1960 Little Rock Housing Authority map for the Central Little Rock Urban Renewal Project
路 A series of hundreds of Missouri Pacific Railroad maps spanning multiple states
鈥淭hese are some of the coolest maps I鈥檝e ever seen,鈥� Wethington said. 鈥淭hey help us understand how our cities, state, and even the nation have changed over time. That鈥檚 the power of access.鈥�
In addition to the primary map collection, the team also preserved and organized a separate collection of architectural drawings and Missouri Pacific Railroad maps. These maps required extra care due to their size and fragility, with many of the maps being over five feet long.
鈥淥ne of the joys of this work is the surprise,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淭he center鈥檚 map collection came together through decades of individual donations and transfers. Many of the maps are one-of-a-kind, each telling its own story of Arkansas鈥檚 spatial and cultural evolution.鈥�
Student involvement was central to the project. Hadden, a Donaghey Scholar who recently completed his undergraduate history degree, gained hands-on experience in archival processing, project planning, and digital preservation.
鈥淔or someone like Cole to work one-on-one with James for three years is invaluable,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 started graduate school in England this fall. The experience and mentoring that he received from James through the years make him competitive with people with graduate degrees already, and it鈥檚 specifically because of the opportunity and expertise he got at the CAHC.鈥�
While the original grant objectives were met a year ahead of the project deadline, CAHC plans to continue its map preservation efforts. Future work will include processing the center鈥檚 Metroplan collection and other unprocessed materials.
鈥淲e far exceeded what we set out to do thanks to the Arkansas Community Foundation鈥檚 support,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淏ut this is just the beginning. We will continue telling the spatial story of Arkansas.鈥�
The newly digitized maps are available for public access through .