United States - The Land and The People (1958)
"It is a country of great diversity in its land and its people."
A "souvenir" promotional map issued in connection with the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition of 1958. The map, focuses on America as a multi-national, multi-cultural nation. "It is a country of great diversity in its land and its people. The people are the most varied of all for they stem from countries and national origins throughout the world. But in their differences they share certain great traditions of America - freedom, equality, individual rights - taught in the home, the church, and the schools."
The map is covered with pictorial images of historical sites and Americans working and playing. Labels on each state show the principal national origins of the residents, for example, Danish, Dutch and German in South Dakota. Across the top are eight figures in stereotypical native clothing (kilt, sombrero, wooden shoes). On the verso is a guide map to the exhibits in the United States Pavilion.
The author’s signature (at the lower left, off Baha California) is not entirely clear. The catalog of the Ethel M. Fair Collection at the Library of Congress and some other sources identify her as “Mary Rouin.” However, based on research by Michael Buehler of Boston Rare Maps, it now seems almost certain that the mapmaker was Mary Jane Ronin. Beginning in 1938, Ronin worked as an artist and art director in New York (apart from a sabbatical year in France), and from 1953 at least into the 1970s was a freelance book illustrator and artist.
Title: United States - The Land and The People
Collection: Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
Creator: Ronin, Mary
Date: 1958
Cornell University Library - Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection: 1360.01