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New Guide to Russian Civil War Pictorial Maps

Posted by: Ryan Moore

The Geography and Map Division (G&M) is pleased to announce the release of Triumph and Liquidation: An Essay and Guide to a Series of Ten Pictorial Wall Maps Created to Illustrate the Successes of the Red Army in the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922. The maps celebrate the victory of Bolshevism over its enemies. Critical …

Chart map of Utah Beach, Normandy, France.

The Amphibious Landing Maps of William Bostick

Posted by: Ryan Moore

William A. Bostick was an artist whose talents were utilized in the Second World War to help create chart-maps for the invasions of Sicily and Normandy. After the war, Bostick had a successful career as an artist and administrator of an arts school in Detroit. His works were nationally and internationally recognized. He died in …

Restricting Soviet Travel in the U.S. During the Cold War

Posted by: Ryan Moore

The rise of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in substantial limitations on where travelers could visit in the opposite nation. When Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, died in 1953, the succeeding Soviet government eased restrictions for Americans wishing to travel there under the auspices of “coexistence.” …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Long Bình Post and the Vietnam War

Posted by: Ryan Moore

During the Vietnam War, Long Binh Post was the U.S. Army’s largest base located in the former South Vietnam. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. The Geography and Map Division holds a map from the war that was printed and created …

Gallipoli Map

Phillips Map Society Event Explores World War I Mapmaking

Posted by: Ryan Moore

In World War I, the detail and accuracy of maps improved rapidly over the course of a few years and greatly enhanced the power of military forces. Maps, however, were only as good as those interpreting them, and failures in map usage resulted in massive casualties, which ranged from tens to hundreds of thousands. An …

•Map Caption: S. Liebmann’s Sons Brewing Co. of Brooklyn, New York boasts of “61 years of Scientific Progress Brewing” (New York: 1915, Rand McNally). Map depicts Jersey City, New Jersey. From the Geography and Map Division Titled Collection.

WWI-Era Terrorism: Black Tom Island and Anti-German Hysteria

Posted by: Ryan Moore

The German act of terrorism on Black Tom Island was one of a series of events that came to a head with the infamous Zimmermann Telegram and pushed America to declare war on Germany in April 1917.  These hostile acts fueled anti-German hysteria that was so great that nearly all aspects of life associated with …

Philip Lee Phillips, Reluctant Ambassador to King of Maps: The Story Behind the First Superintendent of Maps at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Ryan Moore

Phillips, for all his notoriety, was not trained as a professional librarian and early in his career, he served as a reluctant, unconfident ambassador for the Library in meeting map vendors, according to Manuscript Division specialist Cheryl Fox. Fox shared her research on Phillips in a February 22nd lecture sponsored by the Philip Lee Phillips …