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Subject: FW: World War II-era maps
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005
From: Youngblood, Dawn <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum
<[log in to unmask]>, Angie Cope, AGSL <[log in to unmask]>
CC: Milazzo, Joe <[log in to unmask]>
**CROSSPOSTED TO GOVDOC-L**
Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX owns approximately 27,000
collection of World War II-era maps. These captured maps form the
foundation of the University's Edwin J. Foscue Map Library. As a
geographic expert with the Army Map Service (AMS) during World War II,
Dr. Edwin J. Foscue participated in one of the most significant
intelligence campaigns of that conflict -- namely, the production of
state-of-the-art mapping for nearly every region of the world, the
almost constant revision of existing mapping, and the rapid deployment
of these maps to our military forces abroad. The sheer number of maps
produced for the war effort, coupled with the large quantity of
cartographic information captured by advancing Allied Forces, presented
the Army Map Service with a problem of surplus by the war's end.
According to Dr. Foscue himself:
"For a while it seemed as if the Army would destroy all maps it had
published except for a few sets which would be kept in various
government agencies in Washington. Some of the geographers then in
Washington with these agencies, asked if map collections could not be
made available to a number of key depositories throughout the country,
with varying degrees of priority. Schools on the top priority list were
selected (1) because of their interest in establishing a map library and
their promise to house these maps properly so that they could be
available for reference, and (2) because of their regional strategic
location. Thus Southern Methodist University which had been interested
in establishing a map library from the start of this program and was
well located in the Southwest was able to secure one of the top
distribution priorities in the United States."
In the interests of preserving and enhancing access to these map
holdings, SMU is interesting in learning:
1) which institutions were likewise designated as "key depositories";
2) the precise relationship of the AMS depository program (active from
1946 until 1954) to the process described by Dr. Foscue, that is, did
all original AMS depositories receive some captured mapping?
3) which institutions may have acquired these maps under other
circumstances;
4) how other institutions have established physical as well as
intellectual control over their WWII-era map collections.
If your institution own a collection like SMU's, or any WWII-era
mapping, or has any further information regarding the AMS program, you
input would be most welcome.
Please reply directly to Joe Milazzo, SMU's Government Information and
Map Resources Librarian. Contact information is provided below.
Thank you.
Joe Milazzo
Librarian, Government Information and Map Resources
Central University Libraries
Southern Methodist University
PO Box 0135 / 6414 Hilltop Lane
Dallas, TX 75275-0135
214-768-2561
Fax: 214-768-1842
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.smu.edu/cul/gir/index.html
http://worldwar2.smu.edu
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