The following information is taken from the Washington Map Society's brochure:

"The Washington Map Society was founded in 1979 as an informal organization of people interested in cartography, its history, and collecting maps, both old and new.  Our membership includes current and former employees of federal, state, and private map repositories; collectors with scholarly knowledge gained through years of study; and many who simply love to learn about or collect maps.  Membership is open to anyone who shares these common interests."

"The Portolan, the Society's newsletter, was originally established to keep members informed of upcoming meetings, exhibitions, and conferences; to provide listings and review books dealing with the history of cartography; to publish articles written by our members and review of speaker's lectures; and to provide information of specific interest to our membership.  Examples of feature articles include the following:  Hassler's First Chart by Charles Burroughs; Map Projections by John Snyder; A Mecca Map by Jonathan Lanman; The Seutter/Lotter Map of Pennsylvania by John W. Docktor; Johann Georg Kohl and American Historical Cartography by Michael Conzen."

"In 1990 the Society sponsored the Eighth Annual International Symposium of the International Map Collectors Society (IMCoS) with the theme "Mapping America".  In 1994 the Society introduced the Walter W. Ristow Prize which is awarded each year to an upper level undergraduate or graduate paper in the field of the history of cartography or cartobibliography.  In addition to a cash award the successful paper is published in the Portolan."

"Over the last twenty years of its existence, the Society has hosted a wide range of speakers at our meetings held in the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, including both local and international experts, academics, conservators, map dealers and collectors drawn from the Society's membership.  Some examples include:  Helen Wallis, "The Amusement of My Leisure Hours"; Dr. Norman Thrower, "Historical Map Collections in California"; Robert Augustyn, "Manhattan in Maps"; Christine Smith, "Proper Care and Feeding of a Map Collection"; David Woodward, "The History of Cartography:  An Update"; Dennis Reinhartz, "The World of Hermann Moll", and many more."

"Field Trips have included visits to view map collections at:  Colonial Williamsburg, The Mariners Museum, The Library of Virginia, The Valentine Museum, Virginia Historical Society, The National Geographic Society, The National Archives, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The Maryland Historical Society, and the New York Public Library."

For membership information, please visit the Washington Map Society's website.