1940 Detje News Map of India for the Associated Press Feature Service

Redefining the use of Cartography in the News.

This is a 1940 Harold Detje World War II news 'Background Map' of India created for the Associated Press (AP) Feature Service. The AP's Background Maps, pioneered by Detje, redefined the role of cartography in news presentation and became an essential component in WWII media coverage.

A Closer Look

Detje uses the map to summarize the war situation in India and provides an overview of its military and natural resources. Coverage embraces British India (modern-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and the surrounding region, including Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Tibet, and parts of China, Afghanistan, and Thailand. Major cities are labeled, and icons distinguish military bases, fortifications, and religious centers. Throughout, there is a focus on natural resources essential to the war effort, such as sugar, wheat, rice, cotton, and oil. An infographic in the lower left corner details India's religious diversity, using illustrations of individual adherents of the 7 most important religious groups, drawn relative to each group's population size. A second map, below and to the right of the main map, illustrates India's many political boundaries and whether each province aligns with Gandhi's Congress Party. A short text provides a summary of the war situation in India and its relation to the global war effort.

Detje and his AP Background Maps

The AP Background Maps became an essential feature in newspapers across the United States when World War II (1939 - 1945) started. However, the Background Maps predate the war. According to an April 17, 1939, Associated Press article, Detje traces the popularity of newspaper maps to Mussolini's invasion and conquest of Ethiopia in 1935. He believed that this global event opened Americans' collective understanding that the most important events in the world were happening in places they didn't even know existed. Detje viewed each of his Background Maps as a story in its own right and combined information from as many sources as possible. He also aimed to make them as accessible as he could, stating that, when creating each map, he tried to keep in mind 'that I'm diagramming a route of my travels to a friend. Like writing an informal letter.' Detje left the Associated Press sometime in 1940 but continued drawing news maps for the magazine PM throughout the rest of World War II.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Harold Detje and distributed by the AP Feature Service in April 1940 for publication in newspapers across the United States. This sheet provided the source material that those newspapers could then use in their publications, formatted however they chose.

Cartographer

Harold Carl Detje (November 12, 1900 - November 11, 1967) was an American cartographer, graphic artist, and newspaperman. Born in Portland, Oregon, his father, John Henry Julius Detje, was a butcher. Detje attended public school until he completed eighth grade in June 1914, then he entered the workforce. He also attended the Portland Art School. His first job was at the local newspaper, The Oregon Exchange, where, by 1916, he had joined the art staff. His first jobs on the art staff included drawing designs and lettering for advertisements. Detje registered for the draft during World War I but was deemed unqualified for military service due to poor eyesight. He remained on the staff at The Oregon Exchange, and was listed as a 'commercial artist illustrator' in the 1920 Portland City Directory. The Oregon Exchange began running Detje's comic feature 'Maddening Moments' in 1922, and it continued for two years. Detje left Oregon for New York City in 1926, where his work appeared in several magazines. Detje continued as a freelance artist in New York City and published work in numerous magazines, including multi-page comic features. His freelance career came to an end when he joined the art staff of the Associated Press in 1938, where he specialized in drawing maps. In 1940, he left the Associated Press and joined the staff of PM, a new magazine/newspaper that 'revolutionized the use of photography and graphics'. The National Headliners Club awarded him a prize for excellence in mapmaking in 1943. He left PM in 1945 and joined the art staff of Magazine Digest. During the second half of the 1940s, he illustrated several books. He continued working as a staff artist for newspapers for the rest of his career. Detje married Selma Helen Berliner on July 13, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York.   Further Details...

Condition

Good. Wear along original fold lines. Verso repairs to fold separations. Closed tear extending 3/4 of an inch into printed area from top margin through work 'Feature' professionally repaired on verso. Closed 1.5 inch tear in lower left corner not effecting any text professionally repaired on verso.