Scope and Content Note
The Newsmap collection comprises a set of news maps prepared and distributed to American troops by the Army Orientation Course, Special Service Division, Services of Supply. It spans the period April 27, 1942, to April 15,1946. The collection is especially informative in coverage for the period of American involvement in the Second World War, as the maps were designed to keep service members abreast of matters through news, information, and persuasion. Each map covers a single week of events. The recto of each sheet may include a "Newsmap" of the world illustrating alliances and theatres of operation, an indexed list of war fronts with text, thematic pictorial vignettes, inset maps, photographs, and sometimes cartoons and diagrams, while the versos of most sheets include photographs, illustrations, maps, and text on major topics of the War relevant to American troops. The collection consists of 212 maps, essentially issued for use by the armed forces, though it includes two overseas editions and one industrial edition.