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This seems to follow on the heels of Crampton's recent book (he was
editor): http://foucaultblog.wordpress.com/136/ (see page 53--short
section specifically dealing with Robinson). He also posts a memo by
Arthur Robinson:
http://foucaultblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/oss-and-arthur-robinson/ .
(There is also a section in the book--which I have not read--dealing
with the Gall/Peters controversy:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444317411.ch7/summary. I
mention this because of some related and recent discussion on MapHist.)
Joel Kovarsky
On 11/25/2010 5:59 AM, Tony Campbell wrote:
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*The American cartographic planning for D-Day*
November 25
http://www.gsu.edu/magazine/2010fall/269.html
'Mapping History: Geography professor Jeremy Crampton tells the story
of mapmakers who helped win World War II and shape post-war Europe'
(by Jeremy Craig for the/GSU Magazine/[Georgia State University]),
Fall 2010. An informative note about the cartographic preparations for
D-Day and of the creation of a cartographic unit in the Research and
Analysis (R&A) branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), led
by a young professor from Ohio State University, 26-year-old Arthur H.
Robinson:
'To navigate the dangers that lay ahead in this and other
battles, intelligence relied on specialized 'bigot' maps --- bigot
standing for the maps' secret classification. Gathering the
information for these critical maps was a responsibility of the Office
of Strategic Services (OSS), America's first centralized spy agency.
From a network of secret agents, informants and resistance fighters
stationed in cities and villages across Europe --- who often faced
great risk, even death, if apprehended by the Nazis --- the OSS
amassed the data they needed. Then, quietly, behind closed doors in
Washington, D.C., a group of men and women from academia helped win
the war simply by making sense of the data and putting it on maps that
were easier to understand.
'For years, the stories of these geographers and cartographers
remained in the background, as most historians focused on the drama of
OSS spies and informants on the front lines. Now, Jeremy Crampton, an
associate professor of geography, is using newly declassified archives
from OSS vaults to help tell the stories of those whose maps helped
soldiers navigate the battlefields and later helped policymakers draw
up new boundaries for the post-war years. He has co-authored a chapter
of an upcoming book, 'Reconstructing Conflict: Integrating War and
Post-War Geographies,' about the geographers' and cartographers' work.
'The importance of the geographers' role in planning can't be
underestimated,' Crampton said. 'Not many people have looked at this
period in geography. And because there were so many people, not just
geographers but academics working for this short, intense period in
government, I think it says a lot about the relationship between
academia and intelligence, and the policies of the war ...' [see
remainder of the article]
Tony Campbell
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
** extract from: 'Latest News' - for the full story see the link above
http://www.maphistory.info/newslatest.html
[Note. Most news entries are NOT posted to MapHist]
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Joel Kovarsky
The Prime Meridian
1839 Clay Dr., Crozet, VA 22932 USA
Phone: 434-823-5696
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.theprimemeridian.com
_______________________________________________
MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography
hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht.
The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of
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