LAR 423/523 - Map resources

Step-by-step guide on renaming places written and published by The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers non-profit and The Wilderness Society

A group of graduate students, led by geologist Julia Wilcots, initiated efforts to address and change racist place names on maps after discovering offensive terms during fieldwork, leading to the creation of an open letter and supporting a House bill to expedite the name-changing process

Learn about the process of changing U.S. geographic names and why presidents - despite their power - can't simply rename places like Denali without following established federal procedures.

A short data summary of America's naming problem: over 1,000 places still bear racist and offensive names, breaking down the numbers and examining why these names persist despite removal efforts

In 2022, Department of Interior initiated a comprehensive plan to rename over 660 geographic features across the United States to remove a derogatory term targeting Native American women, with proposed replacement names based on local geographic features and tribal input.

This scholarly introduction explores how maps in early America were powerful tools that shaped national identity, territorial boundaries, and social power structures, not just through their direct influence but through people's belief in and use of their authority.

In 2019, the American Philosophical Society hosted a conference on the creation and use of maps from the mid-eighteenth century through the early republic to show the different ways in which maps produced and extended the physical, political, and ideological boundaries of the new nation while creating and reinforcing structural inequalities.