Sweet Home: Alabama’s History in Maps is an exciting new exhibit from the Birmingham Public Library. The exhibit opens in the Fourth Floor Gallery of the Central Library on Wednesday, March 1, and runs through Sunday, April 30. There will be an opening reception on Sunday, March 5, 3:00-5:00 p.m., in the Fourth Floor Gallery. The entire exhibit is also available online at www.bplonline.org/ALMaps.

Timed to coincide with Alabama’s upcoming bicentennial, this exhibit tells the history of our state by introducing patrons to maps that depict Alabama’s development from the earliest days of exploration through the present day. Partially funded by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the exhibit explores 450 years of Alabama history. It includes over 50 maps which have been carefully selected from the library’s world class cartography collection. Jay Lamar, head of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, called Sweet Home: Alabama’s History in Maps, “one of the most exciting, beautiful, and stimulating exhibitions I have ever seen. People will discover things about Alabama that they never knew or imagined by experiencing these lovely, remarkable maps.”

The library has been the grateful recipient of several large collections of rare, valuable, and exquisitely drawn maps. These donations were made by Rucker Agee, Dr. Charles Ochs, John C. Henley III, and Joseph H. Woodward II. “Birmingham is incredibly fortunate to have such a large collection of beautiful maps,” said Mary Beth Newbill, head of the library’s Southern History Department which houses the map collection. Newbill hopes the exhibit will be exciting to “map lovers, genealogists, and anyone interested in Alabama history.”