Personal papers of Karen Severud (Pearson) Cook
Overview
Most of this collection concerns Karen Severud (Pearson) Cook’s research papers on the history of geography, cartography, and cartographers. There are also some of the maps and illustrations that she created and information on her own professional background.
Dates
- Creation: September 1972 - September 2021
Creator
- Cook, Karen Severud (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.
Biography of Karen Severud (Pearson) Cook
Karen Severud (Pearson) Cook grew up in Cooperstown, New York and graduated cum laude from Barnard College in New York City. She earned her masters (1972) and doctorate (1978) in Geography from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
She was a professional cartographer for years in Wisconsin, Georgia, Maryland, and Alaska before intensifying her research into the history of map-making and getting a degree in library science in 2001. Cook was thereafter a Special Collections Librarian at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas in Lawrence where she curated rare books and manuscripts from 2001 until her retirement in December 2020.
Cook researched the evolution of map production, design and use; biographical details of explorers and cartographers; and the general public’s concept of the map.
Extent
1 Linear Feet (1 box + 3 oversize folders)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection maintains the original order and folder names created by Karen Cook when she donated the collection to Spencer. The folders are divided into two main series: “Cartographer and Illustrator,” consisting of mostly published maps and illustrations that Cook created; and “Author and Editor,” including Cook’s writing categorized by type and subject. The bulk of the collection is of the type called “Research Writings.” Any words not in original folder titles provided by Cook are indicated with [brackets].
Physical Location
PP 648
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, Karen Cook, 2021.
- Title
- Guide to the Karen Cook Collection
- Subtitle
- Personal papers of Karen Severud (Pearson) Cook
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by eje. Finding aid encoded by eje.
- Date
- 2022-08-31
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Finding aid written in English.
- Finding aid permalink
- https://hdl.handle.net/10407/6168822033
- Preferred citation
-
Karen Cook Collection, PP 648, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository