Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education is Officially Open!
October 19, 2009
Meredith Smith, Dr. Harold L. Osher, and Peggy L. Osher cut a blue ribbon Sunday, officially reopening the map library.
USM’s Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education opened this past weekend with record crowds in attendance.
Friday evening, 275 attended the public lecture, “Thoreau, his Maps, and his Image of Nature,” by Senior Cartographic Librarian John W. Hessler at the Library of Congress. On Saturday, over 70 attended the one-day conference, “New Directions in the Study of Early American Cartographies.” The conference also served as the inaugural meeting of the Maine Forum for Map History, a showcase for scholars who are pursuing new directions in the study of mapping.
The signature event of the weekend was the ribbon cutting and open house on Sunday. Nearly 400 attendees braved the elements for a ceremony that featured comments by Congressman Michael H. Michaud and a videotaped greeting from former Senator George Mitchell. State Representatives Anne Haskell and Mary Nelson delivered a Legislative Proclamation from Augusta, while Portland Mayor Jill Duson delivered a Proclamation from the City. Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude, who was USM’s president when the map library opened 15 years ago, was also on hand, as were Meredith Smith, daughter of Eleanor Houston and Lawrence M. C. Smith, whose cartographic collection was donated in 1986, and Dr. Harold L. and Peggy L. Osher who followed the Smith’s, donating their collection in 1989.
After the ribbon cutting, guided tours, a reception, children’s activities, music by USM School of Music students and door prizes rounded out the afternoon festivities. If you were unable to attend, do not miss visiting the inaugural exhibition, “American Treasures,” which will be on display until August 2010. See OML’s Web site at http://usm.maine.edu/maps/ for more information.
This addition is the final segment of USM’s Portland campus redevelopment, which includes the Wishcamper Center, the Dorothy Suzi Osher Promenade, and the newly configured entrance to the Glickman Family Library.
See recent media coverage of the weekend’s events here:
- You can see a video interview of Matthew Edney and read Portland Press Herald’s article, “New territory for map lovers: A map library reopens at USM with four times the space after being closed for two years,” October 19, 2009.
- WCSH Channel 6′s news story
- Maine Public Radio’s story that aired on “Maine Things Considered.”
