Rucker Agee Collection of Maps of the Southeast

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Rucker Agee Collection of Maps of the Southeast is collection of 3,675 maps, 700 atlases and 2,533 related volumes held at the Linn-Henley Research Library of the Birmingham Public Library. The collection was initiated with a donation of over 600 maps and atlases and an endowment for acquisitions by Birmingham investment banker and collector Rucker Agee in 1965.

The collection has been exhibited many times since its first public exhibition in 1955, curated by Agee. The maps date from 1540 to the present. Highlights include a woodblock print dating to 1540 showing the discovery of America, several maps of territorial claims in the American south, a "holster atlas" carried by British officers during the American Revolution, the first geological map of Alabama (1849), a railroad map from just before the Civil War, and several maps of Birmingham's industrial and physical development.

The collection, which continues to grow, is recognized as one of the finest municipal map archives in the United States.

References

  • "Rucker Agee: The Man Behind the Maps." (November 2002) Birmingham Historical Society Newsletter.

External links