Description
This collection contains meeting records, newsletters, occasional papers, correspondence,
directories, photographs, and other documents related to the governance of the California
Map
Society, also known as CMS. Though CMS was formally organized in 1979, this collection
contains items from as far back as 1978, and items as recent as 2015.
Background
The California
Map Society (CMS) is a nonprofit statewide organization whose members include
map
librarians, scholars, and collectors, as well as other
map enthusiasts. The mission of CMS is to preserve
and disseminate historical and contemporary cartography, primarily of California, for members as well
as the general public. According to their website (http://www.californiamapsociety.org/aboutus), CMS
takes the following actions to accomplish their mission: # We (CMS) hold general membership meetings
in California twice a year, once south and once north of the northern boundary of San Luis Obispo, Kern,
and San Bernardino Counties. # We compile the names and addresses of cartographers, antiquarian
map
historians,
map libraries, aerialphoto and imagery resources,
map dealers and depositories, and other
organizations and agencies concerned with
maps of and mapping activities in California. # We educate the public through our conferences and by sponsoring occasional publications
and media presentations on
cartography. # We support advancements in
map production, utilization, and preservation in the State of
California. # We encourage research in and the teaching of cartography at all levels of public education
in California. # We promote the exchange of cartographic products, information, and ideas among
members, other
map societies, and other organizations both within and outside California. The first
organizational meeting of the California
Map Society was held on May 20, 1978 at the Bancroft Library
at the University of California, Berkeley. At the organizational meeting, 20 people gathered to discuss the
possibility of forming a
map society for California. This meeting was the product of a discussion in 1977
between Diane Rose (later Diane North) and Philip Hoehn regarding the lack of such an organization for
map enthusiasts specific to the state of California. Two speakers presented at this meeting, and a small
exhibit of
maps was featured. After this meeting, a set of bylaws was drafted. A second organizational
meeting was held on March 17, 1979 at the University of San Francisco, hosted by Dr. W. Michael
Mathes of USF’s History Department. During this meeting the first officers were elected by acclamation:
Norman J.W. Thrower, President# Robert E. Winter, Northern Vice President# Sandra Lamprecht,
Southern Vice President# Richard Hansen, Treasurer# and Stuart Auchincloss, Secretary. The California
Map Society was officially founded on the occasion of its first general meeting on November 3, 1979
at California State University, Fullerton. Sixtyeight people became Charter Members, following this
meeting.