For me, the map that drew my attention the most was that of Chicago’s Gangland (1927). This map lacked the ornate detail and color of the others displayed on the table, and conveniently, no one else had chosen to examine it. When I took a closer look, I noticed that locations were labeled as, ‘Bum Park” and ‘Ghetto’, and jurisdictions were outlined and defined by the predominant group of inhabitants such as ‘Polish’, ‘Jewish’, or ‘Negro’. After having just read the first section of Kendi’s book on antiracism, many of his ideas and concepts around racism were at the forefront of my mind. Kendi writes that racist ideas can become racist policies, and defines a racist policy as “…any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups” (pg.18). I can’t help but feel that this map from 1927 is a perfect depiction of how racist ideas transformed into racist policies. 

 

Today, Chicago is still highly segregated, and a recent study completed by the University of California Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute found that segregation has increased over the last 30-years in certain U.S metropolitan areas— Chicago being one of them. The study found that residential segregation, much like the segregation depicted on the Chicago’s Gangland map, was caused and sustained by American racism. The institute found that race itself was not a determining factor in an individual’s life outcomes, but “…rather, the more consequential factor for life outcomes is the environment in which the individual is immersed” (UC Berkley, Othering & Belonging Institute).

As someone who works in health policy, I have a great interest in the five social determinants of health and their impact on individuals. Of the five determinants developed by the CDC, three are directly connected to an individual’s community or physical location: Neighborhood and Built Environment, Social and Community Context, and Education Access and Quality. Both the study completed by UC Berkley and the CDC’s social determinants of health, confirm that environment plays a vital role in not only life outcomes but health equity as well. The Chicago’s Gangland map was developed in 1927, and today we can clearly see the negative impact of the proliferation of racist ideas through geographical documentation. These widely dispersed and accepted ideas impacted the creation of policies, sustained racial inequities and increased segregation practices in Chicago that remain.

https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/06/21/how-american-racism-is-rooted-in-residential-segregation/
 

Osher Map Library Field Trip

August 28, 2021

Terri Reiter

 

            One only has to hear Professor Libby Bischof and her colleague, reference librarian, Louie Miller, speak about the Osher Map Library to experience their excitement about this exceptional educational resource.  Even if one is not drawn to maps, it is difficult to ignore the enthusiasm these professionals share for the exquisite collection of maps and exhibits that are offered by the Osher Map Library at USM.  The current exhibit, “Where will we go from here?” does not disappoint; it is thought-provoking, unifying, and impactful, as one meanders along looking at the globe in various 2D manifestations and reading narratives of lived experiences associated with navigating a global crisis in the 21st Century.  Every person has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in myriad ways.  This exhibit ties historical maps drawn by earlier inhabitants, with access to lesser technologies, to present-day people and their lived experiences of loss, transformation, and growth throughout the last two years of our worldwide crisis.

            There were a couple of maps that stood out to me as I looked around the library and the exhibit.  The map that I found the most intriguing in the library itself is Lectures on Phrenology: Know Thyself by Dr. J.P. M’Lean. The subjects of the map were offered as examples of “How to Read Character Scientifically: Including the Physical, Social, Moral and Intellectual Development of the Race.” If I interpreted the label correctly, the map is from 1865.  Despite the idea that phrenology was mostly discredited as a scientific theory by the 1840s, this paradigm still existed with enough cultural credence to be offered educationally nearly twenty years later in a poster format.  The core messages of the map include the dubious notions that the formations of skulls are indicative of mental faculties and moral character.  There is an image/head shape that is labeled ‘idiot’ and another that indicates what a murderer would appear like and the characterization of a ‘Prison Bird’ skull. Selected images of President Edwards, Brigham Young, General Scott, and Florence Nightingale are also appearing on the map and are seemingly there to signify desirable cranial prototypes.  When I consider the general question of, “Where do we go from here?” as it pertains to this aspect of the Osher Map Library (not the exhibit itself), the obvious answer might be that all arrows point to moving in the direction of vast improvements.  However, when I juxtapose this map with Kendi’s reading of how systemic racism has evolved and continues to permeate our ideals/culture despite so many individuals (humbly including myself!) that strive for reform, I wonder, where DO we go from here?  I wonder just how long meaningful progress actually requires when shifting systemic culture?

            The map from the exhibit that I spent a great deal of time with is one of the first wall items; a map of the Northern Island, also known as Bermuda, East of the Gulf of Mexico, and accurately described in 1635 (according to the label), part of the Osher Sheet Map Collection.  I recognized the present-day scholar who wrote something to accompany this colorful depiction of the island and I was swept into the works, emotions, new knowledge of a colleague, and the written words in contrast to the majestic portrayal of the island on the map. The initial connection and draw was the idea that the academic who shared her narrative to accompany this map, had just completed her Ph.D. in this same PPM program of study, the one that I/we am/are just beginning on this day.  Her planned trip (to her birthplace, Bermuda) was to commemorate her successful completion of the program. The trip was thwarted by the likes of Covid-19 and ongoing pandemic issues. Her travel itinerary continues to remain nebulous or unclear while the longer-term effects of this crisis play out.  I had not realized the author’s affiliation to Bermuda (her birthplace), the loss of her mother during her recent academic pursuits, nor her plan to return to the island, post successful resolution of her program and publishing of her dissertation.  I resonated with so much of the narrative; losing a parent unexpectedly (this happened for me a few years ago too), loss of a culminating event (I had travel plans for 2020 that were of a very personal nature that I was also unable to materialize due to the pandemic), the lack of clarity of what the future holds in terms of travel, that I found myself subsequently swept into the accompanying map, not realizing how much time was actually elapsing as I admired the details offered by the image’s creator.

Seeing the coloring of the Bermuda map, the details offered by the emblem in the center, the depictions of the explorers traveling there on great sailing ships from the past, the windblown hair-style depiction of the adventurers, the use of the conk shells for communication across the lands and sea, as examples, all seemed to romanticize the idea of traveling to the island and served concurrently to highlight the emotional sense of collective loss we all have that the accompanying writer aptly expressed in her narrative.  

The map seems to underscore the understanding of the island ‘language’ as resulting from a confluence of many regions coming together.  There are several features on the map (the poles, latitude and longitude lines, and relative scaling) that remind the viewer how islands are open to exploration from all sides (Portuguese, French, English, American, etc.) and therefore can serve to invite assimilation (or perhaps also lots of inner conflicts if fights for relative territories ensue).  The map depicts the vulnerability of being exposed on all sides and the richness (vastness) of what might be possible in Bermuda due to its’ positioning in the sea.  

            The relative question offered by the exhibit name, “Where do we go from here?” seems to serve as a reminder that journeys offer all kinds of experiences, lessons, changes in attitudes, and new information.  Just as we do not know when the ill effects of this pandemic will recede a bit, opening up avenues for more travel, we simultaneously can not predict where the journey of our Ph.D. will also take us.  We may think we know what the future holds, what our culminating research may entail, for example, but the reality of what actually transpires may or may not be what we had originally planned.  I suspect, like the earlier theories of phrenology have been relatively debunked, some of our existing ideas will be deconstructed and re-worked by the time we reach the end of our journey within this cohort.  I imagine the mapping of our experience will be beneficial and relatable to some at other points in time too.  Maybe in a hundred years one of our writings will be displayed in a similar exhibit.  Perhaps our collective experiences can also serve to unify the whole.