Alaska Headline-Focus Wall Map 14

Problems and Promise of our 49th State

“Two major obstacles stand in the path of Alaskan development. One is climate…Also, Alaska is so far removed from the rest of the country that the cost of transporting goods to and from the state is very high.”

This informational poster map was created and published in Washington, D.C. in 1967 by the Civic Education Service as part of its Headline-Focus Wall Map series. The brightly colored image presents a bold pictorial map of the 49th state, with an interesting combination of vignettes highlighting local resources, wildlife, indigenous people, and geographic features.

Accompanying text provides information on the state’s ‘Land and People’ and ‘Struggling Economy.’ The Alaska ’67 Expo, held in Fairbanks to celebrate the centennial of the Alaska purchase, is advertised in the lower left. Also of interest is the proximity to the U.S.S.R. and an illustration representing a captured Soviet fishing vessel – “the second such incident this year.”