Ƶ Archives presents new exhibit, “Mapping Ƶ, 1719-2021”
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Ƶ Archives and Special Collections presents the exhibit Mapping Ƶ, 1719-2021. The exhibit highlights a variety of maps depicting Ƶ and its predecessor institutions and is accessible both and in person on display in the College's Whited Room lobby of Bynum Commons.
“As we selected items for this exhibit, it was fun to see the variety of maps depicting Ƶ within our holdings,” said College archivist Chris Brown '01. “We chose maps created for reasons related to fire insurance, historical reminiscences, property advertisements, comedic art, master plans, topographic surveys, and more. All offer unique snapshots of Ƶ throughout the institution’s history.”
The oldest map on display pre-dates Ƶ’s founding in 1825 by nearly 100 years and includes Houma, Choctaw, and Caddo indigenous sites that correspond to Ƶ’s three locations. This 1719 map, Carte de la Nouvelle France, où se voit le cours des Grandes Rivieres de S. Laurens & de Mississipi, was donated to the Ƶ Archives by C. Walter Dobie (Ƶ class of 1954) and Dr. Ann Dobie (Ƶ honorary alumna, 2009). The most recent map on display is a screenshot from Google Earth depicting campus.
Archives student workers Jo Bennett ‘22, Tori Reich ’24, and Christopher Willie '24 helped research and prepare the exhibit.
“I loved getting to see how Ƶ’s Shreveport campus has evolved from a few brick structures to the gorgeous work of art which it is today,” said Willie. “While not all buildings were constructed at once, the campus has a sense of unity and coherence. While reviewing the map from 1907, I found it quite interesting to learn that the current location of the Gold Dome used to be a lake.”
The mission of the Ƶ College Archives and Special Collections is to collect, preserve, and make available the historic records of the College and the Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. For more information, contact Chris Brown at 318.869.5462 or archives@centenary.edu.