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Description

Louise Jefferson's Iconic Map of Africa

A rare pictorial map promoting peaceful relations with Africa and advocating for African self-determination, independence, and self-rule as the era of colonization approached its conclusion. The cartography is simplified, marking major rivers, cities, and tribal regions while serving as a visual narrative of Africa's diverse natural and cultural landscapes.

The illustrations bring Africa to life, featuring iconic landscape elements such as the Sahara Desert, the Kalahari, and lush forests, alongside rich fauna, including giraffes, elephants, and camels. Prominent economic activities such as agriculture, fishing, and industries are highlighted, alongside symbols of modernity and progress, including hospitals, schools, and research centers. The inclusion of airplanes, steam engines, and automobiles reflects the continent's integration into global technological advancements.

The map emphasizes African agency and accomplishment, reinforcing its positive vision through textual elements. The upper-left inset notes:

"There is hardly a type of responsible position in Africa today that is not being capably filled somewhere on the continent by an African. Africans build, repair, and pilot airplanes, service and operate automobiles, trucks, steam engines, electrical and radio installations. They are teachers, college professors, nurses, doctors, dentists, lawyers, clergymen, engineers and business men."

Individuals of significance are also depicted, including “Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia” and “Mina Soga, World Christian,” underscoring both leadership and global contributions of Africans. This celebration of African progress aligns with the mid-twentieth-century movement toward independence and socio-political transformation across the continent.

The map is the work of Louise Jefferson, an African American illustrator and pioneering figure in mid-twentieth-century publishing. Jefferson's composition balances traditional artistic elements with emerging socio-economic realities, creating an artifact that is both a historical document and a statement of hope.

Louise E. Jefferson Biography

The following Biography is excerpted from the Tulane University website:

Jefferson was born in Washington, D.C. in 1908 . . . the only child of Louise and Paul Jefferson. Her father was a calligrapher for the United States Treasury, and her mother made a living playing piano and singing aboard cruise ships on the Potomac River. . . 

Louise began her training at Hunter College in New York City where she studied fine art, and then on to Columbia University where she studied graphic arts. During her time in New York City, Jefferson became involved with the Harlem Artist’s Guild, and is credited as a founding member. She was an active member of the artistic community during the Harlem Renaissance, and she became close friends with poet Langston Hughes, and shared an apartment with Pauli Murray, who would become an influential activist, lawyer, and priest.

At the start of her career, Jefferson designed posters for the YWCA in New York City, until she was discovered by the Friendship Press, the publishing branch for the National Council of Churches. By 1942, Jefferson was the Artistic Director for the Friendship Press and she had control of every aspect of the Press’s book productions. While working for Friendship Press, Jefferson also accepted freelance work from publishing companies Doubleday, Macmillan, and Viking, and also from the University presses of Columbia, Oxford, Rutgers, and Syracuse. Jefferson would retire from the Friendship press in 1960, but she remained busy designing book jackets and maps for publishing companies and Universities.

Once retired, Jefferson set her sights on the most ambitious project of her life. Over the course of several years, Jefferson made five trips to Africa to do research for what would become her book, The Decorative Arts of Africa. She travelled the continent extensively, visiting Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Jefferson used her photographs and drawings from her adventures to create The Decorative Arts of Africa, which was published in 1973. Containing over 300 illustrations, Louise describes her book “as a visual sampling of what the spirit and tempo of the African artist’s role has been in the past and what it continues to be today.”

In her later years, Jefferson settled down in the picturesque town of Litchfield Connecticut, where she maintained an art studio and could always be found with her beloved camera, ready to capture a photo at a moment’s notice. She spent the last few years of her life tending to her garden, entertaining friends, and taking snapshots around Litchfield. Louise Jefferson passed away in 2002 at the age of 93.