The Early Evolution of the Science of Geography in the United States

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Although the discipline of geography has undergone dramatic transformations in recent decades, much of its development remains strongly influenced by events and processes begun in the early years of its formal establishment as a scholarly discipline in the United States. Much of the material on which more detailed and comprehensive histories of the development of American geography can be built are written materials stored in archives in the United States and Europe. This project will enable one of the foremost historians of American geography to spend considerable time examining materials in these archives in order to expand and enrich general understandings of key activities and themes in the discipline's development from the 1880s through the 1940s. The outcomes of this research will include articles in scholarly journals and chapters in a book that will consider the first century of the development of geography in America. Publications also will ensue that will make the contents of these archives better known to other scholars. By intensively examining material related to the early history of scholarly geography in America, the investigator will improve his own understandings of the discipline's development, insights that will be shared with scientists through scholarly publications. The elucidation of archival materials also will heighten the potential for other scholars exploring the history of geography to conduct their own research. Through these systematic investigations of the evolution of crucial conceptual and methodological developments in the discipline, the abilities of contemporary practitioners to conduct their work more effectively will be enhanced.