Exhibit: A New American Globe: James Wilson of Vermont

James Wilson of Bradford created the first commercially available globes in America. Beginning in 1810, he produced and sold terrestrial and celestial globes for home and classroom use, advertising them as superior American-made products. Wilson's path to globemaking was far from obvious, and he has been celebrated as a unique Vermont genius.

How much of what we know about him is anecdotal and hearsay, and how much is based in close examination of quality archival sources?

A New American Globe: James Wilson of Vermont is on view through June 2023.

Thank you to our project partners who made this exhibit possible:

Bennington Museum
Bradford Historical Society
Center for Research on Vermont
Central Vermont Medical Center
Concord Museum
Harvard University
KidsVT
Lake Champlain Basin Program
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Norwich University
James and Judith Pizzagalli
Private Collections
Seven Days
Shelburne Museum
University of Southern Maine
UVM Department of Geography
UVM Special Collections
VT Society of Land Surveyors
Wilson Descendants