PRESS RELEASE

“Sweet Home:  Alabama’s History in Maps” Exhibit Coming to Cherokee County Public Library                                                                                                       

Centre, Alabama-History enthusiasts and map lovers, Cherokee County is preparing to host a new traveling exhibit created by The Birmingham Public Library that will whet your appetite. “Sweet Home: Alabama’s History in Maps” is available for viewing at Cherokee County Public Library, from Monday, May 21 2018 through Friday, July 20, 2018. The library invites the public to attend a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday May 31, 2018 at 9:00 AM.

Timed to coincide with Alabama’s upcoming bicentennial, this exhibit tells the history of our state by introducing patrons to maps that depict Alabama’s development from the earliest days of exploration through the present day. Partially funded by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the exhibit explores 450 years of Alabama history. It includes over 50 maps which have been carefully selected from The Birmingham Public Library’s world class cartography collection. The library has been the grateful recipient of several large collections of rare, valuable, and exquisitely drawn maps. These donations were made by Rucker Agee, Dr. Charles Ochs, John C. Henley III, and Joseph H. Woodward II. The entire exhibit is also available online at www.bplonline.org/ALmaps.

Jay Lamar, head of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, called “Sweet Home: Alabama’s History in Maps,” “one of the most exciting, beautiful, and stimulating exhibitions I have ever seen. People will discover things about Alabama that they never knew or imagined by experiencing these lovely, remarkable maps.”

“Birmingham Public Library is incredibly fortunate to have such a large collection of beautiful maps,” said Mary Beth Newbill, head of Birmingham Public Library’s Southern History Department, which houses the map collection and curated this exhibit.  Newbill hopes this traveling exhibit will be exciting to “map lovers, genealogists, and anyone interested in Alabama history.”

For more information, call Cherokee County Public Library at (256) 927-5838 or email ccplincentre@gmail.com.