The Power of Maps

By Mélina Mangal

 

As an author and school librarian, I love doing research.  I love poking into different sources to hunt for useful facts.  One of those sources that I come back to, no matter the project, is maps. 

I collect maps whenever I travel, as a souvenir, but also as a reference for future work.  I picked up such a map when I visited Plymouth, Massachusetts years ago, which later helped me as I wrote a story about cranberry bogs.  

I use a range of maps, starting with the basic street map, physical map, and topographical map.  Typically, I search Google, Apple, or Bing maps online first, getting a general idea of the area, then zooming in for greater details.

Not only do maps pinpoint a specific location and geography, they help inform a range of sensory details.  When I hone in on a location, I can zoom in on both the natural and human-made elements surrounding it. 

So much of what we might find out about a person or a place from secondary sources tends to be written for adults.  But children are often interested in more basic, day-to-day aspects of lives, like how did this person get to school?  Maps can help generate useful questions, but also provide the answers. Where was the school?  Was my subject affected by this factory nearby?  Did they hear the mining trucks on the road?  Did they worry about flooding?  

Maps put things into perspective.  Your subject may say they walked 5 miles each day.  Maybe they did, but maybe that’s exaggerated recollecting.  If you can pinpoint the exact locations, you can verify accuracy by selecting the walking directions feature. Is your subject’s neighborhood on the map?  Was it called something else in the past? 

Remember that locations change as well.  A school that was once located in a certain spot, may have relocated, or closed.  Factories and mines can be reclaimed by nature.  And, unfortunately, what we’re more used to: meadows and forests can be plowed over and built upon. 

While researching facts for my picture book biography The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just, I wanted to find out more about Charleston, South Carolina and the surrounding Low Country area of the late 1880s. 

Starting with digital maps helped me get a general sense of the terrain. I was immediately struck by the abundance of waterways. I’d learned that Ernest Everett Just’s family had moved back and forth from Charleston to the country, but seeing the maps opened up more questions for me.  How did his family travel?  What modes of transportation were available to them at that time?  Though I didn’t initially think such questions were directly tied to his life’s work as a scientist, they helped flesh out more sensory details that rounded out the story of Dr. Just’s childhood.

Getting my hands on historic maps really filled in the gaps.  When I traveled to Charleston and was able to look at maps of the 1880s from the Charleston Public Library’s historical maps collection, it became clear that during the time period I was researching, the bridges weren’t yet reconstructed (one had been destroyed by a hurricane).  This pointed to the need to travel by boat.  Further research verified that this was they way many people got around.  This detail helped bring the 1880s to life for me, imagining the sights and sounds and smells that young Ernest would likely have experienced. 

Using the map, I listed details that the surrounding physical elements could evoke: the rush of the river, pelicans flapping overhead, oars dipping into water, waves crashing against the beach, horses clip clopping on cobblestone, humidity hazing the woods…

By looking very closely at the historical maps, I was able to locate the area where his family moved and where Ernest’s mother had opened a school. Though completely different now, it was an area rich with wildlife and vegetation. Knowing that he was exposed to so much of the natural world as a child helped inform the choices I made as I wrote and rewrote the manuscript.

Charleston County GIS map taken by Mélina Mangal

In addition to maps of specific locales, I like to use sources like the Library of Congress Digital Maps Collection when looking for historical maps.  Perusing county maps, and the Historical Society of the locality you are researching can yield very detailed historical maps that help you pinpoint specific changes over time.  Local libraries often have historical maps in their collections as well. 

Exploring and free writing with maps provides useful background to inform editing and specific word choices, but it can also help if you are stuck.  Free writing with maps is a springboard for virtual travel, adding depth and sensory detail to your nonfiction writing, no matter what stage you are in.  Enjoy your journey!

Give it a Try

Pick a location from your manuscript, like a home, school, lake, or courthouse. If you have a physical map, open it up and examine it.  Linger over all place names and physical features.  Plot distances your subject might have frequented.

Do the same with Google Maps or any other map app you may use.  Zoom in as close as you can get.  Use street view, then aerial view.  What’s the terrain like?  Zoom out and examine a 2 mile radius.  What do you notice?  Are there roads?  If so, what are they like? Train tracks?  Power poles? Any bodies of water? 

Generate a list of questions.

Create a list of physical features like lakes, mountains, train tracks, woods, etc. Then, imagine what you can see, hear, smell and feel in or near each of these features, from the perspective of your subject.  Be as detailed as possible. Have fun roaming!  With your map, you won’t get lost.   

 

 

Meet the Author

Working at the intersection of nature, literature, and culture, Mélina Mangal’s writing highlights youth whose voices are rarely heard, and the people and places that inspire them to explore their world.  She is the author of biographies for youth, including The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just, winner of the Carter G. Woodson Award and named an NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Her short stories have been published by Milkweed Editions, Carolina Wren Press/Blair Publishing, Spider magazine, and Bravery. Her latest book, Jayden’s Impossible Garden, won the first Strive/Free Spirit African American Voices in Children’s Literature contest. Mélina works as a school library media teacher in Minnesota and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.  Visit her online at:  melinamangal.com