Artefacts of a Discipline at Work: Tracing the Geographer's Influence Through the "Cartographic Records of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace"
Abstract:
At the 1919-1920 Paris Peace Conference that concluded the First World War, geographers and cartographers brought together under the leadership of the American Geographical Society (AGS) were called upon to actively contribute mapping that was employed to influence policy decisions around border delineation. Specifcally, the Greco-Turkish border became uniquely diferentiated from other ongoing delineations by these American academics' involvement in the peace process. The preserved archival records of these experts shed light not only on this pivotal moment in the national identies of modern Greece and Turkey, but also a similarly pivotal moment in the development of the discipline of geography in America. This historical geographic research draws attention to the early 'scientificisation' of cartography that occured at this time.