Top of page

Category: Biography

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 …

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

Grafton Tyler Brown, Trailblazing Cartographer of the American West

Posted by: Tim St. Onge

Historically, “cartographer” has commonly been a profession wearing many hats: artist, craftsman, communicator, documentarian, entrepreneur, and pioneer (among many others). To celebrate cartographers who embraced these multitudes of roles to achieve success, it is worth remembering their stories. Today, we recognize Grafton Tyler Brown, a trailblazing African American cartographer of the Pacific Northwest. Brown was …

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 …