[Collection of WWII Maps from the Chicago Daily Tribune]

Reporting on current events during World War II.

This colorful collection of newspaper maps from the Chicago Tribune is a fascinating encapsulation of public geographic interest during the first year of American participation in World War II. Several scores of images, designed by William Wisner, Van Swearingen, and Rand McNally, highlight contemporary events across the world, with a distinctive focus on the Pacific Theater but also covering the Western Hemisphere, North African Campaign, and Eastern Front. ‘New’ maps showcase the latest military engagements from an obvious American perspective. Various thematic maps highlight the concentration of natural resources, industrial production, ‘Loyal’ South America, the aviation revolution, etc.

The collection was predominantly published in 1942 and features numerous manuscript annotations, including several signatures that indicate the former scrapbook was owned by William Wisner. As the head of the Tribune’s Editorial Art Department, Wisner had a broad influence on how the public interpreted global events through the use of his cartography. According to research by Geographicus, he considered his greatest work to be devoting “himself entirely to the complicated task of preparing full-color maps which provided Tribune readers with up-to-the-minute developments on the global battlefronts.” 

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