Reinterpreting the History of Texas with Maps

This year’s Virginia Garrett Lecture Series on the History of Cartography focuses on the history of Texas through maps. The talks will take place from Thursday, Oct. 6, through Saturday, Oct. 8, at UTA Libraries.  

Ben Huseman, Cartographic archivist with UTA Libraries Special Collections and Archives, stated the lecture series provides valuable insight into past events.  

"These lectures are an extraordinary resource and to have this coming to North Texas is very important in sharing our changing knowledge and interpretations of early maps and Texas history," Ben said. "Members of the International Map Collectors Society    and the Texas Map Society will be attending along with scholars from a variety of locations." 

The UTA libraries website stated that when longtime library supporter Virginia Garrett donated her extensive personal collection of maps, geography textbooks, and atlases to the university in 1997, a special endowment was established to promote its use by inviting scholars to speak on topics relating to the history of cartography. 

 As a result, every other year since 1998, the UTA Libraries have hosted the Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography along with a special exhibit drawn primarily from Virginia Garrett's collection. 

This year's lecture series features several individuals with extensive knowledge about the events and people that shaped the state into what it is today. 

One of these speakers is Dr. Juliana Barr, a historian from Duke University, who reinterprets early Texas history adding greater emphasis to indigenous perspectives through extensive use of early European maps of the area that became Texas. 

Another of these speakers is Dr. Jim Bruseth, Ph.D., who served with the Texas Historical Commission. 

He was the archaeologist that directed the excavation of the ship, the La Belle, which wrecked along the Texas coast in 1686. The La Belle belonged to the French explore La Salle and was salvaged from Matagorda Bay from 1996 to 1997. The ship's remains are preserved at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. 

"Dr. Bruseth has been active in the field of archeology for more than 40 years. His projects have been covered in national magazines such as 'National Geographic' and ‘The Smithsonian,'" Ben said. "He is going to be talking about that excavation and about how the inaccurate maps of the period helped doom La Salle’s project." 

Dr. Bruce Winders, Ph.D., will be speaking at the event as well. He served as the historian and curator at the Alamo in San Antonio for more than 23 years. During his talk, he will share information about this historic site. 

"He knows all of the ins and outs of the Alamo story from many different angles," Ben said. 

For more information about the Virginia Garrett Lecture series, the schedule of events, or how to register, go to https://bit.ly/3AZSLzP.