Alaska
- Title:
- Alaska
- Alternate Title:
- Alaska
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Chapin, Robert M.
- Date:
- 1958
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1359.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1359_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- Unusual Projection
Communism & Cold War
Politics & Government
Pictorial - Measurement:
- 81 x 65 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This map of Alaska by R.M. Chapin originally appeared in Time Magazine on June 9, 1958, and was reprinted in large format for classroom use. The timing is important: after decades of dispute, the U.S. House of Representatives approved statehood for Alaska on May 26, 1952, and debate moved to the Senate. This map forcefully presents the argument for Alaska's strategic significance. Air bases and missile launching sites are prominently displayed - U.S. and Soviet - along with U.S. DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line and other military facilities. Oil and other strategic commodities are located, and an inset globe shows that Alaska is almost equidistant from Washington, Pearl Harbor, Moscow and "Peking." The Congress granted final approval of Alaska statehood on July 7, 1958.
The publisher of Time Magazine, along with Life and Fortune, was Henry Luce, the most powerful American media figure of his era and a fierce anti-communist. Baughman 2001, 1-5. Robert M. Chapin was an artist and long-time “Chief Cartographer” for Time. The collection includes a number of Chapin’s cold war maps reflecting Luce’s views: ID #2303, The Czar’s Will on 1944 Europe (1944); ID #1333, Communist Contagion (1946); ID #2010, West’s Germany (1949); ID #2012, Two Worlds (1950); ID ##1348.01-.02 & 1349, Europe From Moscow/Asia From Irkutsk (1952); ID #1359, Alaska (1958).
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- reprint in enlarged format from Time Magazine, June 9, 1958.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.