January 2022 – Asking for Wonder

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
genesis 2:15-17

The passage above, in conjunction with Genesis 3 (Typically referred to as “The Fall”), set up what becomes the event that would cause Heaven and Earth to be separated — to borrow how the Bible Project phrases it, the event that would change Heaven on Earth to Heaven and Earth. It’s a really interesting event that is worth diving into. There are all sorts of strange things that happen over the course of Genesis 2 and 3. Talking snakes, cherubim, and a garden filled with the complete presence of God. And these are all things that I think we need to explore.

Over the summer of 2021, I worked as the Special Collections and Archives Intern at the Duane G. Meyer Library, at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. As a part of that internship, I designed two standing exhibits. The gallery below is of the second exhibit, featuring maps of Springfield, Missouri, and the surrounding areas. The maps featured stretch from the Civil War to the mid-1900s, and feature different foci, such as topological features, population centers, and jurisdiction borders. The exhibit was composed of a wall with nine map facsimiles. Each of these facsimiles were printed, dry-mounted, and presented just for this exhibit.

An overview of the map wall
An overview of the map wall
An overview of the map wall
An overview of the map wall
The exhibit description
A map of Springfield, MO and the surrounding area, 1863
Plan of Springfield, MO, 1861
Map of the Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station, Mountain Grove, MO
Topographical Map of Table Rock Reservoir, 1944
Map of the Battlefield of Wilson’s Creek, 1863
Map of African American population centers in Springfield, MO
Exhibit text for map of African American population centers in Springfield, MO
Topographical Map of the Routes from Little Piney Ford on Gasconade River to Rolla, MO, 1861
Jurisdiction map of Laborer’s heavy and highway work in Missouri
Map of St. Louis — San Francisco Railway Lines, 1900