Collection Summary
Samuel Whittemore Boggs
Papers
1912-1954
1912-1954
MSS13094
Boggs, Samuel Whittemore,
1889-1954
7,000
items
31 containers plus 1 oversize
29 linear feet
English
Collection material in
English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Geographer, inventor,
and cartographer. Correspondence, writings, subject files, research data,
printed matter, and other material relating mainly to Boggs's geographic
studies and to his inventions and research interests.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Boggs, Samuel Whittemore, 1889-1954.
Subjects
Boundaries.
Cartography--Instruments.
Cartography.
Geography.
International relations.
Map projection.
Maps.
Missions.
Regionalism.
Traffic signs and signals.
Water boundaries.
Occupations
Authors.
Cartographers.
Geographers.
Inventors.
Provenance
The papers of Samuel Whittemore Boggs, geographer, inventor and
cartographer, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife in 1955, with
an additional gift of Dorothy C. Novak, professional associate of Boggs, in
1967.
Processing History
The collection was processed in 1956 and expanded in 1985. The finding
aid was revised in 2012.
Additional Guides
A note on these papers appeared in the Library of Congress
Information Bulletin
(April 30, 1956).
Copyright Status
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Samuel Whittemore Boggs in
the collections of papers in the Library of Congress is dedicated to the
public.
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Samuel Boggs are open to research. Researchers are
advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Samuel Whittemore Boggs Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1899, 2 Mar.
Born, Coolidge, Kans.
1909
B.L., Berea College, Berea, Ky.
1909
1912
Private secretary to president, Berea College, Berea,
Ky.
1912
1913
Student, Yale Divinity School, Yale University, New Haven,
Conn.
1913
1914
Secretarial work, Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Neb.
1914
1919
Secretarial and executive work for International Committee of
YMCA and other organizations, New York
1916
Married Amy Burt Bridgeman
1916
1924
Geographical research, map compilation, editor, American Book
Co., including maps for
World Missionary Atlas
, 1921-1924
1924
M.A. in geography, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1924
1954
Geographer, Department of State
1939
1942
Lecturer, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1945
1946
Lecturer, American University, Washington, D.C.
1954
Died
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Samuel Whittemore Boggs (1889-1954) span the years
1912-1954. Consisting of correspondence, drafts of articles, notes, maps,
printed matter, and clippings, the collection focuses on Boggs's diverse
geographical interests. Included are files of geographic data on various
regions of the world, reports of missionary activity, material relating to
Boggs's mapping inventions, files for proposed studies, and preparatory
materials for his lectures, speeches, and publications. The collection is
organized into seven series:
[
Correspondence
](correspond),
[
Professional File
](proffile),
[
Writings File
](writfile),
[
Lectures
](lecture),
[
Subject File
](subfile),
[
Miscellany
](miscella), and
[
Oversize
](overs).
Topics of significance include boundary delimitation, regionalism,
global relations, and water boundaries. Featured are Boggs's pioneering work as
inventor of an eumorphic equal-area map projection, graphic traffic signals,
and a universal graphic charting instrument. Also in the papers are notes on
courses given at Columbia University.
Boggs's filing system was retained in parts of the collection,
including a "Regions of the World" section in the
[
Subject File
](subfile) series. A guide to the section
is in the first folder of the material.
Arrangement of the Papers
The collection is arranged in seven series:
-
[
Correspondence, 1916-1954
](correspond)
-
[
Professional File, 1927-1953
](proffile)
-
[
Writings File, 1931-1954
](writfile)
-
[
Lectures, 1938-1942
](lecture)
-
[
Subject File, 1915-1954
](subfile)
-
[
Miscellany, 1912-1945
](miscella)
-
[
Oversize, 1932
](overs)
Container List
Box
Contents
1-2
Correspondence,
1916-1954
1916-1954
Special correspondence of letters to and from Boggs as geographer
with the State Department and general correspondence.
Arranged alphabetically within the two groups.
1
Special Correspondence, State
Department
“A-B”
miscellaneous
“C”
miscellaneous
“D-G”
miscellaneous
“H”
miscellaneous
“J-L”
miscellaneous
Library of Congress
“M-P”
miscellaneous
“R-S”
miscellaneous
2
“T-Z”
miscellaneous
General
Correspondence
“A-B”
miscellaneous
Beach, Harlan P.
“C-E”
miscellaneous
“F-G”
miscellaneous
“H-J”
miscellaneous
“K-P”
miscellaneous
“R-S”
miscellaneous
St. John, Burton
“T-W”
miscellaneous
Washburn, H. M.
“Z”
miscellaneous
3-18
Professional File,
1927-1953
1927-1953
Material related to professional projects during the various
phases of Boggs's career.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
3
Association of American
Geographers
"An Atlas of
Ignorance"
American Philosophical Society,
Paper
Cost Estimates,
Project
Ford Foundation,
Project
Forward, Introduction,
Project
Manuscripts, Initial
Drafts
Map Illustrations (Lantern
Slices), Paper
Map Plans, Project
Maps Under Wenner-Gren
Grant
Miscellany, Project
Newspaper Clippings &
Radio, Paper
Notes for Text, etc.,
Project
Other Correspondence,
Paper
Outline (Subjects, etc.),
Project
Plan for Atlas,
Project
Search for Support (except the
American Philosophical Society), Project
State Department,
Paper
Aviation Maps, Drafting
Companies, 1928-1929
4
Cartographic Instruments and
Patents
Universal Graphic Charting
Instrument
Correspondence,
1932-1939
Application for
Patents
Application for Registration
of Trade-Mark
Map Projection Application
Papers
Orders for Drafting
Instrument
Advertising
Contract Draft
Description and
Instructions
Related Instruments and
Ideas
General
(2 folders)
5
(5 folders)
6
(1 folder)
The Classification and Cataloging of Maps and
Atlases
Requests for Manual Refused
(3 folders)
7
Requests for Loan of Manual to
be Granted
Requests for
Reproductions
Manual
Accomplishments, Analytics,
Facsimiles, Citations
Area Headings
Atlases,
Cataloging
Bibliography
Catalog
Entries
Examples
Rules, etc.
Classification, Theory,
etc.
Consolidation of Book and Map
Catalog
Definitions
Exploring Expeditions,
Cataloging
Index
Subject Headings
Photostat Sheets, Cards
Selected from American Geographical Society Research, Catalog for Department of
State and Office of the Coordinator, Nov. 1941
Area Classification, Liberia
Subject
Classification
8
Subject Headings, Old
Material
Manual, with Annotations and
Corrections, 1945
Area Classification, Current,
1937-1945
Miscellaneous Correspondence,
1940-1951
Classification and Cataloging
of Maps in Other Collections
Projections, Small
Illustrations Used in Identification Tables
9
Prime Meridians
"Master Catalog" in GE
[Department of State, Office of the Geographer]
Map Cataloging in Other
Libraries
1924-1929
Post 1930
Map Scales, used in earlier
centuries, chiefly
Lists of Packages [as packed by
donor]
Association of American
Geographers
Committee Report
30 Dec. 1936
Related
Material
Manual Gifts, Letters and
Replies, 1932
10
Map Manual
Requests, Current,
1934-1941
Correspondence re Publishing,
1932-1943
Conferences with Library of
Congress, Division of Maps, 1931-1936
American Library Association
Map Catalog Code Revision, 1939
Exhibit of American Library
Association Technique, Experimental Cards Arranged by Author, by Area,
1939
Experimental Material, Data
from Maps, circa 1930-1931
Map Cataloging
General
Classed Catalog
Developments in Department of
State, before 1930
Map Manual
Archives
11
General Correspondence,
1932-1945
Samuel Whittemore Boggs,
Material
Loans, 1932-1945
Preface and
Introduction
Definitions
Material to Be
Used
Old Material
Map Projections, Appendix
K
Map Scale
12
Subject
Classification
Subject Index
Classification and Notation,
Old Material
Manual
Copy Sent to Press,
1945
Carbons of Material Sent to
Miss Cole, 1945
13
SLA Correspondence re
Publishing, etc., 1944-1945
Errata and
Revisions
Printed, Oct.-Nov. 1945
[?]
Mimeographed by Boggs and
Dorothy C. Lewis
Revisions and Corrections to
Manual
Abridged Area
Classification
General Plans
New Subjects for Manual,
Miscellaneous
Material for Attention in
Improving Manual
Manual
Typed Copy, 28 Apr. 1931,
Annotated, Jan. 1932
Mimeographed
Jan. 1932
14
Jan. 1932, with Proposed
Changes Insert, 4 Jan. 1935
(2 folders)
Apr. 1938, with Note, 10
Apr. 1945
Date Not Shown
"Department of State. Divisions
of Publication, Geographic Section. Rules for Map Cataloguing" (2
copies)
Map Cataloging, Department of
State
1930-1931
1943, on Samples, etc., for
Explaining Technique
15
Area Classification
(2 folders)
Eumorphic Equal-Area Map
Projection Formulas & Computations, 1927-1953
General Drafting Co., Inc.,
1928-1930
Geographic and Mapping Projects
for Unesco, 1947
"Geographic and Other Scientific
Techniques for Political Science"
"Geographic Encyclopedia of the
World," in English
16
Geographic Film Strips,
1946
Geographic Projects for the
American Council of Learned Societies, 1947-1949
Globes, 1953-1954
International Geographers'
Union
"Inventory: The Earth and Its
Tenants"
(4 folders)
Journey of John R.
Mott
re Maps for His Book,
1946-1947
Source Material for Maps,
1946-1947
17
"National Atlas of the United
States"
Advisory Committee
Association of American
Geographers Committee and Others
(2 folders)
Canadian, British, and Other
National Atlases
Executive Committee
Miscellany
Roger Smith Conference, 8 June
1949
Nystrom (A. J.) & Co.,
Contract, 1927-1928
18
Possible Papers for Publication,
Correspondence
"Regional Proverbial
Wisdom"
"Savoy Free Zones"
Traffic Problems,
1939-1941
Warsaw Conference,
1934
Washington, D.C., and Vicinity,
Road Map
1929-1931
1934
(2 folders)
Water Boundaries Articles,
Correspondence, 1951
19-23
Writings File,
1931-1954
1931-1954
Articles, books, and speeches.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
19
"Africa: Maps and
Man"
"American
Hemispheres"
"Apuntaciones Sobre los Aspectos
Geograficos de un Plan Viable para el Arreglo de la Controversia
Boliviano-Paraguaya de Limites"
Arts Club talk on maps, circa
1935, Notes
"Boundary Functions and the
Principles of Boundary-Making"
"Centers: A Study in Social
Unity"
"The Changing Significance of
Geographic Locations"
"Comparative Distortion of Shape
in Three Equal-Area Map Projections"
"Delimination of the Great Lakes
Boundary"
"Geography and Its Relation to
Political Science and Government"
"Geographic Aspects of European
Emigration to the United States"
"The Geometry and Geography of
Communications"
20
"Global Relations of the United
States"
(2 folders)
"Globe Manual"
International Boundaries
(2 folders)
21
(6 folders)
22
(6 folders)
"Library Classification and
Cataloging of Geographic Material"
"Mapping the Changing
World"
"Notes on Map Making"
23
"Physiography of the Roof of
Earth"
"A Plan for American
Participation of Uninterrupted International Peace"
"Problems of Water-Boundary
Definition"
"Seasonal Variations in Daylight,
Twilight, and Darkness"
Speeches and Talks, 1945-1945,
Notes
"Taking It for Granted," circa
1950, Notes
23-24
Lectures,
1938-1942
1938-1942
Course notes of lecture series given at Columbia University.
Arranged in numbered sequence as received from the donor, with a
file of correspondence at the beginning and miscellany at the end.
Columbia University,
1939-1942
Boundaries
* Correspondence,
1938-1939
1. What They Are and How They
Function
2. Classification and
Terminology
3. U.S.-Interstate
(2 folders)
24
4. Latin America
5. European Boundary
Functions
6. Europe
7. Asia
8. Africa
9. Water
* International
* Miscellany
25-30
Subject File,
1915-1954
1915-1954
Subject files related to professional interests, but of an
avocational nature.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
25
American Christian Literature
Society for Moslems, Inc.
American Geographic
Society
Berea College, Berea,
Ky.
Boundaries
General
(3 folders)
Offshore Water Boundary
Delimination
26
U.S., Canadian
Boundary
U.S., Canadian Boundary
Treaties
U.S., Mexico Boundary
Treaties
Congo Constitution Committee,
Correspondence, 1921-1923
Denoyer-Geppert Co., Scientific
School Map Makers
Exhibitions, Art and Science
Notes
27
Foreign Survey
Department
Graphic Standards for
Maps
Interchurch World
Movement
Map Projections
Panama Protestant Missionary,
Conference Material
(3 folders)
28
Regions of the World
Guide to Boggs's
System
A World
Population
000 General
Information
050 Geographical
Publications
100 Mathematical
Geography
115 Map
Projections
230 Climate, Meteorology,
etc.
700 Missionary
Geography
750 Geography's Debt to
Missions
801 History of
Religions
811 Christian Missions,
Administrative Problems
812 Missionary
Surveys
865 Mohammedanism
Ab Pacific Basin
000 General
Information
B Eastern
Hemisphere
801 History of
Religions
Bn Near East
840 Map of Protestant
Missions, 1920, Data Used in Compiling Same
Bt Turkey (Europe and
Asia)
000 General
Information
29
Ca Latin America
840 Panama Congress, Feb.
1916
840 Protestant
Missions
840 Protestant Missions,
"Berea in Latin America"
D Africa
412 Boundaries
547 Railroads
Dgb Egypt
000 General
Information
E Asia
000 General
Information
Ecb Armenia
000 General
Information
Ej India
000 General
Information
En Near East
(Asiatic)
151 Distribution of
Population, Geographic Factors
Es Siberia
000 General
Information
Ga Austria
000 General
Information
Gd Czechoslovakia
000 General
Information
Gf Finland
000 General
Information
Gh Germany
000 General
Information
Ghms Germany (Upper
Silesia)
000 General
Information
Gi Greece
000 General
Information
Gj Hungary
000 General
Information
Gk Italy
000 General
Information
Gl Jugoslavia
000 General
Information
Go Poland
000 General
Information
Gwb Baltic
Republics
000 General
Information
Gxc Albania
000 General
Information
30
Hm Mexico
000 General
Information
840 Protestant
Missions
Ho Central America
840 Regional Conference, Mar.
1920
General
Records and
Minutes
Kg Greenland
000 General
Information
Miscellany
31
Miscellany,
1912-1945
1912-1945
Charts and maps, photographs, biographical material, printed
matter, and notes.
Arranged by type of material.
31
Biographical File
Charts and Maps, 1932-1945,
undated
[
See also
Oversize
](con31cartmapov)
General
Geography and Political Relations
Course, Notes, circa 1948
M.A. Thesis, Notes,
1923-1924
Notebook, Undergraduate Course:
Experimental Psychology, 1912-1913
Photographs
Printed Matter
OV 1
Oversize,
1932
1932
Charts and maps.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and
folders from which the items were removed.
OV 1
Miscellany
Charts and
Maps, 1932, undated (Container 31)