 |
| Distribution of Crime & Drunkenness in England & Wales, https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19343585 |
The
title definitely caught my attention. Of
course, I needed to learn more!
The
Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, has a
collected called Persuasive Cartography – The PJ Mode Collection.
This is a collection of
“persuasive” cartography: more than 800 maps intended primarily to influence
opinions or beliefs - to send a message - rather than to communicate geographic
information. The collection reflects a variety of persuasive tools ,
including allegorical, satirical and pictorial mapping; selective inclusion;
unusual use of projections, color, graphics and text; and intentional
deception. Maps in the collection address a wide range of messages: religious,
political, military, commercial, moral and social.
There is really no mystery for the image shown
above the correlation between Drunkenness and Crime in the 1904 map. Some of the included maps take a bit more
sleuthing to decipher the intended message.
As stated in the about section of the website …
In fact, no map provides
an entirely objective view of reality. Even the best-intended
cartographer must decide what projection to use, what features to include and
what to exclude, what colors, what shading, what text, what images – all of
which shape the message communicated by the finished product. Every map is
somewhere along a spectrum from objective to subjective, from science to art.
We deal here with maps that have crossed a line – itself admittedly subjective
– into the preference for communicating some message other than objective
geographic information.
There is a collection of slavery-related
maps. One in particular caught my eye -- The Methodist
Episcopal Church in Territory Where, in 1861, Slavery Existed in the United
States.
This map, published in 1895, shows the aid
provided to educational institutions "maintained or aided by the
Freedman's Aid and Southern Education Society" of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. In particular, the map shows the extent of the Church's help to
education "among black people" and "among white people" in
the former slave states. The size of the symbols and extensive amount of data
covering the map enhance its effectiveness in communicating the Church's
bi-racial work.
What is your favorite map in the collection?
Which map actually helped with your family history research?
What “kind of different” map collection have you come across that
is both fun and informative?
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