When NBC 5 senior meteorologist David Finfrock walks into UTA Libraries Special Collections, he brings with him a new addition to an expanding collection of Antarctic history.

Sometimes it is a rare expedition map from the 1930s. Other times, it is a book once carried by polar explorers. In a recent visit, it was a folder of Antarctic maps from the 1960s tracing how countries recorded the icy landscape during the height of modern scientific research. 

For Finfrock, each map represents more than geography. It tells a story of curiosity, risk, and the long effort to chart one of the last places on Earth. 

That passion will take center stage this fall during the 15th Biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography, hosted by UTA Libraries Special Collections on Oct. 1-2. 

This year's theme, "Frozen Frontiers: 500 Years of Mapping Antarctica," will focus on how Antarctica was imagined, charted, and portrayed from the early modern era through the present day. The two-day program will feature lectures, panel discussions, exhibits, and special events centered on the cultural, political, and scientific forces that shaped Antarctic cartography across five centuries. 

Finfrock will participate in the event as an exhibit expert and donor, sharing the personal story behind his collection and lifelong interest in Antarctica.

"I've had a real long love of Antarctica as well as cartography," Finfrock said. "As a teenager, I read books about exploration, including the exploits of Captain James Cook and Ernest Shackleton, and it got me fascinated by that whole history of discovery."

His interest in maps started even earlier. Finfrock shared that his father, a geologist, helped spark his fascination with geography during family road trips across the country, where maps were a regular part of everyday life.

That childhood interest eventually grew into a serious collecting effort focused on Antarctica and the explorers who helped chart the continent. Over the years, Finfrock studied the history of Antarctic expeditions, wrote letters to researchers stationed there, and ultimately traveled to Antarctica in 2002.

Building a Collection for Future Generations

Since 2023, Finfrock has donated hundreds of Antarctic maps, books, prints, and related materials to UTA Libraries. His growing collection has helped establish UTA as a significant destination for research on Antarctic cartographic history.

"I'm looking toward my legacy and I want to make a difference," Finfrock said. "Instead of these maps just sitting in a drawer in my house, other people are being able to enjoy them and use them for research."

The Virginia Garrett Lectures were established following Virginia Garrett's donation of her extensive personal collection of maps, atlases, and geography textbooks to UTA in 1997. An endowment created alongside the donation supports the biennial lecture series and related exhibits, bringing scholars and map enthusiasts to campus to discuss the history of cartography.

"This is a foundational event for Special Collections," Madeline Lowry, Garrett Family Cartographic Archivist, said. "The idea is to bring together experts and enthusiasts of the history of cartography to discuss map collecting and map expertise. Every series is based on a different theme."

This year's Virginia Garrett Lectures focus on Antarctica, which grew naturally from Finfrock's ongoing donations.

"We have almost 500 Antarctic items at this point, a mix of maps, books, and prints from David Finfrock," Lowry said. "So, it’s great to highlight that collection this year."

Lowry shared that organizers also wanted this year's event to connect with a broad audience.

"We want to reach as many people as possible and really highlight our collection to our larger community," Lowry said. "The maps are about Antarctica, but there are so many other topics that connect to them, including science, history, exploration, climate research, and storytelling."

Mapping the Frozen Frontier

The accompanying exhibit will guide visitors through several eras of Antarctic mapping, beginning with early theories about a southern continent dating back to Aristotle and Ptolemy. From there, the exhibit moves through the first recorded sightings of Antarctica in the 1800s, the race to the South Pole during the so-called heroic age of exploration, and the rise of aerial photography and modern scientific mapping.

Among Finfrock's favorite pieces in the collection is a colorful map tied to Admiral Richard Byrd's Antarctic expeditions during the 1930s. Produced by General Foods during the Great Depression, the map helped promote Byrd's expedition and even featured references to Grape-Nuts cereal, one of the sponsors that helped fund the journey. The map still contains large sections labeled "unexplored," a reminder of how recently Antarctica's full coastline became known.

Finfrock said Antarctica's history stands apart because so much of the continent remained unknown until relatively recently.

"The first people to see the continent didn't happen until 1820, and the full outlines of the continent weren't discerned until the 1940s," Finfrock said. "There are people still alive today who grew up at a time when we didn't fully know the extent of an entire continent on Earth."

Lowry shared that the exhibit itself was designed to help visitors follow that progression over time.

"It starts with the early imaginings of what a southern continent might look like and moves through the major eras of Antarctic exploration and mapping," Lowry said. "You really get to see how people's understanding of Antarctica changed across centuries."

Bringing Maps into the Classroom

In addition to lectures from visiting scholars, the event will feature faculty panels discussing how Antarctic maps are being used in classrooms and research projects across campus. Student research posters, a planetarium presentation featuring projected Antarctic maps, and an exhibit opening reception are also planned.

Lowry noted that one of the goals is to show students how Special Collections materials support hands-on learning and original research.

"There's already faculty and student work happening with these materials," Lowry said. "Seeing the maps actively used for class projects and research really shows how these collections continue to have value beyond the exhibit itself."

The exhibit will remain on display throughout the academic year, giving students, researchers, and visitors time to engage with the collection and its history.

For Finfrock, one of the most rewarding parts of the project has been seeing students and faculty actively use the materials.

"That just thrills me to no end," Finfrock said. "That's my goal, to provide this for students and faculty to use in the future."

The Virginia Garrett Lectures are open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. Additional event details and registration information will be available on the UTA Libraries Virginia Garrett Lectures page.

The event will also coincide with the Texas Map Society Fall Meeting on Saturday, Oct. 3, at UTA.