Center for American Places

The Center for American Places is a department of Columbia College Chicago, a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The Center was founded in 1990 by former Johns Hopkins University Press editor George F. Thompson (see About the Founder) with fellow geographers, writers, and artists Charles E. Little, J. B. Jackson, Cotton Mather, Yi-Fu Tuan, Bonnie Loyd, Gregory Conniff, Martha A. Strawn, William Howarth, Thomas C. Hunt, Richard Beamish, and Henry Tom.

The Center's publishing program is designed to enhance the public's understanding of, appreciation for, and affection for the places of the Americas the rest of the world—whether urban, suburban, rural, or wild. We are guided by the view that books provide the intellectual and emotional foundation for comprehending—and caring for—the places where we live, work, and commune. As we like to say:

Books live. Books endure. Books make a difference. Books are gifts to civilization.