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American Geographical Society Library

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The American Geographical Society Library (AGSL), one of the premier collections of its kind in North America, contains over 1.3 million items.

The American Geographical Society Library (AGSL), one of the premier collections of its kind in North America, contains over 1.3 million items supporting instruction, research and outreach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and around the world. The collection contains maps, atlases, books periodicals, film media and digital data files. Its scope is worldwide with coverage from the 15th century to the present. Its resources have been used to produce an ongoing series of digital collections, including an award winning website on Afghanistan, a comprehensive site on world transportation and collections featuring unique photographic documentation of such places as Tibet, the Republic of Georgia, Korea and World War II Poland. The AGSL offers scholarly programs for the campus and local community throughout the year and welcomes visiting scholars from across the US and the world.

10/19/2026

Happy Map Monster Monday from the AGSL!!
These sea creatures are from Hendrick Hondius's 1636 atlas - which one is your favorite?

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10/16/2026

Happy World Food Day!
Celebrated internationally on October 16th to commemorate the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, today the AGSL offers you some delicious selections from the Harrison Forman Collection - enjoy!

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Photo 1: China, food vendor cart, 1973.
Photo 2: Poland, man tasting food from stovetop in kitchen, undated.
Photo 3: Philippines, machine processing harvested tomatoes, between 1959 and 1961.
Photo 4: Thailand, boat merchant selling prepared food, 1960.
Photo 5: Guatemala, outdoor market in Santiago Atitlan, 1972.
Photo 6: United States, harvested pineapples being washed and processed in Hawaii, after 1959.
Photo 7: India, merchant selling prepared food in market, 1960s.
Photo 8: Malaysia, prepared meal ready to eat, between 1950 and 1972.
Photo 9: Uzbekistan, man selling shashlik at market, 1959.
Photo 10: India, woman laying out coconuts to dry in sun, 1960s.

10/15/2026

Game 4 of the NLCS is tonight, taking place in Los Angeles! The Brewers are hosting a watch party at American Family Field, but they haven't always played there. Swipe to see cartographic representations of the Brewers' Home Fields, as we prepare to cheer them on tonight!

Maps:

1. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Milwaukee 1910, vol. 2, sheet 123. Sanborn Fire Insurance Company.

2. Milwaukee quadrangle, Wisconsin - Milwaukee Co. 7.5 minute series (topographic), United States Geographic Survey.

3. Milwaukee County transit guide. Milwaukee County Transit, 2008.

10/12/2026

Today is Indigenous People's Day,
The AGSL acknowledges in Milwaukee that we are on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present.
Maps and photographs from our collections attempt to capture the complex and rich history of Native America, and we hope that you take time today to reflect upon the roles we all play in the histories and realities of colonial expansion and native sovereignty in the United States.

Photos 1 & 3: From Crow Nation in Crow Agency, between 1934 and 1969, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photos 4 & 5: From Window Rock Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, between 1934 and 1969, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 2: Navajo woman with children in Monument Valley, ca. 1950s, from the Harrison Foreman Collection
Map 1: Native American nations: traditional names & locations, Aaron Carapella, 2021.
Map 2: Central Great Lakes native lands c.1800 & today / the Ways Great Lakes Native Culture & Language, a production of Wisconsin Media Lab, 2013.
Map 3: Indigenous peoples of North America, 1500 CE / Maps.com., 2021
Map 4: Indian land cessions, Sam B. Hilliard; cartographic design by Dan Irwin and staff of the Southern Illinois University Cartographic Laboratory, 1972.
Maps 5 & 6: Indian land areas judicially established 1978, Geological Survey (U.S.) and Indian lands areas / compiled by the Handbook of North American Indians (Smithsonian Institution) in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs ; prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey., 1992

10/09/2026

New Exhibit(s) Alert! 🚨
Did you know the AGSL has four (4!!) exhibits up around the library right now?
From pop-up exhibits for Latine Heritage Month (in the AGSL through next week) and Native American Heritage Month (in the Grind exhibit cases on the first floor though November) to our longer-running You Are Here transit cartography exhibit in the AGSL through February 2027 and March on Milwaukee: The Civil Rights Struggle in 1967-1968 on the 4th floor made in collaboration with UWM Archives & Special Collections – we have so many places you can come see curations of our collections!!
We’re open 9am-4:30pm Monday-Friday!

10/08/2026

Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers on their NLDS win! On to the NLCS.

This poster is technically an aerial photograph, taken during Game 5 of the 1982 World Series at County Stadium. Us here at the AGSL are root, root, rooting for our home team (the Brew Crew) to make it all the way! Go !

10/01/2026

Today is International Coffee Day! ☕
These photographs from our collection, taken by Robert Platt, Clarence Sorensen, and Harrison Forman in the 1930s-1960s, showcase the coffee growing, harvesting, processing, roasting, milling, packaging, and brewing processes in coffee-producing hubs around the world! Cozy up with your morning cup and enjoy this peek into the coffee-making process ☕❤

Photo 1: Colombia, farmer tending coffee seedlings at Fredonia agriculture school, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 2: Colombia, workers picking coffee beans at Fredonia agriculture school, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 3: El Salvador, workers separating coffee beans at market, from the Harrison Forman Collection
Photo 4: Ecuador, man using shovel to spread drying coffee beans, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 5: Brazil, farmer winnowing beans in southern Brazil, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 6: Brazil, women examining coffee beans at warehouse in Londrina, 1962, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 7: Venezuela, horse pulling wheel coffee crusher in Escuque, 1933, from the Robert S. Platt Collection
Photo 8: Angola, filling bags with coffee for export in Luanda, 1961, from the Harrison Forman Collection.
Photo 9: Brazil, man testing samples at Brazilian Coffee Institute in Londrina, 1962, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 10: Italy, barista working with machine in café in Fondo, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection

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09/28/2026

This Wednesday, the AGSL is happy to host the first Academic Adventures lecture of the school year!

"We use maps to locate places, people, and things, but maps also use us to create stories, project an idea, or shape how we think. Maps, mapmakers, and map readers are in a dynamic relationship with more uncertainty than you know until you stop and ask, where am I? This talk walks through how maps create a place in our mind or reinforce ideas about a place that may or may not be true."

Come find out more this Wednesday, 3pm-4pm in the AGSL -- all are welcome!

09/26/2026

Our Doors Are Open!! Come in and see our new exhibits until 5pm this evening! If you aren’t able to make it today — you can find us here Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm📍
Historic Milwaukee, Inc.

09/24/2026

Happy World Maritime Day! ⚓
This global day of recognition aims to emphasize the importance of international shipping industries, but we here at the AGSL also want to highlight the importance of maritime travel in the history of pre-modern cartography! From wind-reliant vessels used to explore the open oceans to steam ships navigating our waterways, the boats featured in this post come from Hendrick Hondius's 1636 atlas and our digital collections.

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Photo 1: United States, barge on Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Chicago, 1947, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection
Photo 2: Japan, SS President Wilson heading toward junk, between 1931-1932, from the Robert L. Pendelton Collection
Photo 3: Venezuela, boats at the bank of Orinoco River, 1923, from the Robert S. Platt Collection
Photo 4: Haiti, loaded barges moving away from shore of Petit Goâve, 1933, from the Robert S. Platt Collection
Photo 5: India, men rowing boat near ship Great Eastern at port in Kolkata, from the Clarence W. Sorensen Collection

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Address

2311 E Hartford Avenue
Milwaukee, WI
53211

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 4:30pm
Thursday	9am - 4:30pm
Friday	9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+14142296282

Website

https://uwm.edu/libraries/AGSL/

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