War Map of the Italian Front

Color lithographed fold out map of WWI’s Western Front, published by the Women’s Committee of National Defense.

The Council of National Defense was formed in 1916 to coordinate resources and industrial capacity in support of the war effort, and in 1917, asked states to form their own councils to aid the federal effort. The Illinois Division was founded and supported, like many others, by a host of individuals and businesses, including much of society’s upper crust.

Lola Sheldon Armour, the wife of meatpacking magnate Jonathan Ogden Armour (second generation), was one such influential resident and formed her own unit of the Women’s Committee, located in the Orchestra Building. The women in Armour’s unit compiled this map by reviewing information from various official sources and dispatches and compiling them in conjunction with the Rand McNally Company, just up the street, for publication to educate the American public on the progress of the war.

This map is No. 5 in the set of 4 (the fourth was omitted) and shows the area on the Italian Front from the Swiss border to the Adriatic Sea. On the image are towns, roads, fortifications, railroads, natural features, the line of furthest Italian advance, and the most up-to-date battle line from 1918. The Council of National Defense would be postponed in 1921, and unfortunately for Mrs. Armour, her husband would be outed as president of his company after losing $125 million in the post-war slump.