Map Showing Every Town and Farm the American Forces went through in the Actual Fighting Zone in France
- Title:
- Map Showing Every Town and Farm the American Forces went through in the Actual Fighting Zone in France
- Alternate Title:
- General Pershing's Battle Map
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Murray, J.P.
- Date:
- 1922
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2554.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2554_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1920 - 1939
- Subject:
- Advertising & Promotion
Not So Persuasive
World War I - Measurement:
- 22 x 40 on sheet 28 x 43 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This handbill is a copy of an iconic map of World War I overprinted to serve as an advertisement for a candidate seeking judicial office in New York.
Shortly after the armistice that ended the fighting in World War I, General John J. Pershing sent the original of his actual battle map to the National Museum (now the Smithsonian). It is a large colored map (over nine feet by ten feet), mounted on a wooden board. The battle lines and the location of various armies on the Western Front at the time of the armistice are marked by colored metal pins, paper squares, and stars. https://www.si.edu/object/chaumont-ghq-battle-map%3Anmah_434551, accessed November 20, 2022. General Pershing noted that "it was the only map of its kind used at [his] headquarters." New York Times, May 8, 1919, p.16.
In 1922, a much reduced black-and-white version of the map was produced by J. P. Murray. Apart from this example, I am aware of only one other, in the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/museum/digital-collection/view/oclc/931069251, accessed November 20, 2022. At the top of the Pritzker copy is the title "To Preserve the Memories and Incidents of Our Association in the Great War," along with a legend stating that it was drawn from General Pershing's map. And below the map are the words "Compliments of Gifford Pinchot," the American politician and conservationist, and "Trace with colored pencil your own trip through the Battle Zone and preserve for future reference."
This copy was intended not as a momento but as an advertisement, with the text overprinted in red. This version is entitled "Map Showing Every Town and Farm the American Forces went through in the Actual Fighting Zone in France" (rather a sweeping assertion). Below the map, again in red, is the salutation "Compliments of Supreme Court Justice Frank S. Gannon . . . He Has Served You Well . . . Keep Him on the Supreme Court Bench."
Gannon was a well-known Staten Island Republican leader. In 1921, he was appointed by the governor to the Supreme Court (as trial courts in New York are known) to fill an unexpired term. He ran for election in the fall of that year and was defeated. In 1922, he was again appointed to fill an unexpired term, again ran for election, and was again defeated - notwithstanding this handbill map. New York Times, January 19, 1932, p.14. Gannon's lengthy obituary in the New York Times does not mention service in World War I.
For other examples of overprinted or otherwise repurposed maps in the collection, Search > "repurposed".
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.