Cartographic Treasures in the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States

Abstract

As many government information librarians know, maps can be found in official publications and documents from just about every type of government agency but as often as we come across them in the expected places there are just as many sources, as historian and cartographer Bill Rankin suggests, of sometimes-stunning maps, plats and images that remain largely unexplored. Often providing crucial context, these maps are usually overlooked once an issue has passed from the news, as they are subordinate to the document or report that they were created to support. This article will introduce one of these unexplored resources: the Records and Briefs of the Supreme Court of the United States. A familiar resource for information about the Supreme Court, the records and briefs are rarely thought of as a resource for cartographic or other visual information yet the historical records and briefs abound with this material.