In-Person: First Night Open House · Dec 31, 12 – 4 pm ET

Celebrate New Year's Eve by taking a peek at seasonal holidays of the past! During our First Night Open House, LMEC will have historic maps of Boston and BPL Special Collections will have historic photos and maps of Back Bay and the Boston Public Library. This free showing will be hosted Wednesday, December 31 in the Guastavino Room, located on the first floor of the McKim Building, with staff members from the Center and BPL Special Collections available to answer questions.

Drop in any time between 12 pm - 4 pm ET. No reservation is required.

Event information → 

In-Person: Jim O’Connell on Boston and the Making of a Global City · Jan 8, 12 pm ET

Join Boston University professor Jim O’Connell for a lunchtime conversation about his new book, Boston and the Making of a Global City. The book explores how Boston has been shaped by globalization and how it has also affected the processes of globalization. O’Connell teaches in the City Planning-Urban Affairs Program at Boston University and has a Ph.D. in Urban History from the University of Chicago. He will be in discussion with Marilynn S. Johnson (Boston College Department of History).

Lunch will be served and registration is required to attend. While this event is currently full, we encourage you to sign up for the waitlist.

Register for the event → 

Snowfall Fundraiser

Dear friends and supporters: as we reach the month’s midway point, we’re pleased to report that we are more than 70% of the way to reaching 43 inches of snowfall this December. We’re also delighted to announce that a generous anonymous donor has offered to match your donation—doubling its impact! We’re well on our way to beating Blue Hill Observatory’s record December snowfall of 1945, and you can donate today to add another half inch to our “snowfall tracker,” and to show our appreciation we’ll send you a special winter gift.

Donate here → 

Visualizing Allan Rohan Crite's Boston: Mapmaking through Art and Bibliography · Jan 15, 6 pm ET

Boston artist Allan Rohan Crite both documented and experienced the sweeping changes that took place in in twentieth century Boston, especially in the South End and Lower Roxbury neighborhoods where he lived. The Leventhal Map & Education Center and BPL Community History have teamed up with the Boston Athenaeum to create an interactive map about Crite’s life and work around the city.

This program is presented in conjunction with Allan Rohan Crite: Griot of Boston at the Boston Athenaeum and Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Register for the event → 

Virtual: Beyond the Headlines: AI and Historical Newspapers · Jan 26, 2 pm ET

This event, co-hosted by BPL Digital Services and the Leventhal Map & Education Center, explores how computational text analysis is transforming historical newspaper research. Join Molly Hardy from the Library Innovation Lab and Greg Leppert, Executive Director of Harvard's Institutional Data Initiative, as they examine the formation of historical newspaper collections and how artificial intelligence contributes to efforts to digitize these collections and make them accessible.

Register for the event → 

Newsletter Trivia: Most Viewed Map of 2025

Each year, the LMEC’s digital collection receives hundreds of thousands of visitors looking at our collection of more than 14,000 digitized maps. Which of the maps below was our most-viewed collection record in 2025? (Hint: It’s consistently one of our most-viewed maps and was featured in Bending Lines!)

1. Gleason's new standard map of the world

2. The world turned upside down

3. Territorial acquisitions, 1783-1853

4. An anciente mappe of Fairyland

The answer to last week’s question about what other major cultural institution also used to sit on Huntington Avenue between Symphony Hall and Copley Square is Mechanics Hall.

Correct answers will be included in a random drawing—the winner will receive the next three Map of the Month club postcards for free. Congratulations to our last winner, Matt! In order to enter, make sure you follow us on Bluesky, Instagram or Facebook and direct message or email us the answer to the question. We’ll accept answers until December 29 at 9 am ET.

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Thank you for a great 2025!

The year is nearly over and we can’t thank you enough for your support of the Center. We’re grateful for our community of friends and colleagues—we look forward to spending 2026 strengthening and expanding our work with you at our side. Happy Holidays from the Leventhal Center … we’ll see you in 2026!

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