Maps of Haiti Available from Ball State University Library

Maps in the News:  Haiti

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the deadly earthquake that hit Haiti in January of 2010.  The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes a variety of maps of Haiti and the island of Hispaniola.

Mapa de la Isla de Santo Domingo y Haiti por el General Cashmiro n de Moya (Map of Santo Domingo and Haiti by General Cashmiro de Moya) is displayed on the front wall of the GRMC (above, click to enlarge).  The map was created by General Casimiro De Moya in 1905 and corresponds with the U.S. control of Dominican customs during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.  De Moya was a politician and military leader in the Dominican Republic.  This was the first detailed map of the island of Hispaniola.

The GRMC also has a reproduction map of the island of Hispaniola published in 1722.  The map depicts the topography of the island in color relief.  Hispaniola: Urban and Rural Population Map was published in 1956 and presents the population of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The map of Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville, Haiti (above) is a guide map published in 1978.  The map was created by the Nader Art Gallery in Port-au-Prince and includes the art of many different Haitians.  It identifies points of interest like the U.S. Embassy, cathedrals, museums, theaters, and hotels with distances to the Nader Gallery show room.

Nautical charts included in the GRMC also depict the coastline of Haiti.  A large collection of maps and atlases of the Caribbean islands detail the larger area.  Maps showing seismic activity in the region are also available in the GRMC.  Maps related to the Haiti earthquake are also available in digital format from the GRMC.  For example, the U.S. Geological Survey created the map showing the over two million displaced people in Haiti (above) and maintains a Web page related to the earthquake.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  Please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 for more information.

GRMC Closed on Monday, January 15

Holiday Hours at Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection

The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library will be closed on Monday, January 15 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.  Bracken Library, however, will be open on Monday from 7:00 am to 3:00 am.

The GRMC will reopen at 8:00 am on Tuesday, January 16.

El Salvador and Immigration Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News:  El Salvador

The Trump administration announced on Monday that nearly 200,000 people from El Salvador who have lived in the United States for more than a decade must leave the country.  The administration is giving the immigrants until September of 2019 before they could face deportation.

The immigrants from El Salvador were part of the humanitarian program—Temporary Protected Status.  This program allows immigrants from designated countries to live and work (and pay taxes) in the U.S. without fear of deportation.  The program was created by President George Bush in 1990, and immigrants from El Salvador were included after devastating earthquakes in 2001.  Over the next 15 years, President George W. Bush and President Obama extended the protection status.

The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes a unique collection of maps of El Salvador.  The map above (top, click to enlarge) is called El Salvador: The Struggle for Rural Control and was published in 1991 near the end of the country’s 13-year civil war.  The map identifies areas controlled by the rebel group, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).  The red- and green-shaded areas depict areas under the control of the FMLN.  And government army units are shown with the soldier icon.

The GRMC also includes ortho-photographic maps of El Salvador at a scale of 1:5000 meters (above).  These maps identify important buildings in red, railways with the black line, and main roads with a red line.  The maps were published by the National Geographic Institute of the Ministry of Public Works in Sal Salvador.

The tourist map (above) identifies the locations of Pre-Columbian ruins and historical sites, skiing and fishing areas, and beaches throughout the country.  El Salvador’s numerous volcanoes and mountains are also depicted.  The map was published by the El Salvador Tourist Commission and also includes an inset map showing travel times to U.S. cities.

The GRMC also maintains a repository of digital maps related to current events and social topics that may be used as visual aids for research papers and learning projects.  The map, Immigration Enforcement and Sanctuary Cities, was published by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network in 2016.  The Missing Migrants Project published the map showing migrant deaths on world borders from January through September 2014.

Migration Policy Institute’s Data Hub includes maps showing the U.S. immigrant population by state and county, maps related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and top immigrant populations by state and cities.  The map above identifies where most of the immigrants from El Salvador are located in the United States.

The digital collection of maps also includes large-scale maps that can be printed using the plotters in the GRMC, or the maps may be projected digitally for presentations.  This collection also includes posters that can be used for presentations about specific countries.

For more information about the maps in the GRMC or using maps as visual aids in research and learning, please contact Melissa Gentry at 765-285-1097.