Beginning with Swem: One Hundred Years of Innovations in the Library of Virginia's Map Collection

Abstract

The Library of Virginia (LVA) in Richmond was established as the state library in 1823. Maps were a part of the library's early collections. A glimpse into the library's early map collecting efforts and the collection itself highlights innovations in conserving, cataloging, and promoting the library's maps. An exploration of the challenges that arose in this early map collection reveals the accomplishments of librarians and archivists who worked closely with LVA's map collection. Earl Gregg Swem compiled the seminal Virginia cartobibliography, referred to as “Swem.” Wilmer L. Hall applied a map classification system for LVA's maps. And Marianne McKee spearheaded the online cataloging of LVA's map collection, collaborated with philanthropist Alan Voorhees to digitize United States Civil War maps with the Library of Congress and the Virginia Historical Society, and promoted scholarship using the map collection in publications, symposia, exhibitions, and lectures. Hence, Swem, Hall, and McKee, through their resourcefulness at LVA, contributed to the larger field of map librarianship. Their ingenuity provided the foundation for evolutions in LVA's map collection, especially related to growing, cataloging, and promoting the collection that has made it a valuable resource for those interested in Virginia maps and Virginia's place in the geographic imagination. This article first reviews this foundation and then addresses later developments in map cataloging that pertain to organizing and promoting LVA's map collection.