“Chicago Motor Coach Routes” Map
Date
Credits
- Unknown 104 Designer
Format
- Map 71
Locations Made
- United States 879
- Chicago 72
- Illinois 131
This map of the Chicago Motor Coach Company's routes was featured in the guidebook for the American Negro Exposition of 1940. The exposition was held in Chicago, and this map was within the “Your Host” section of the guidebook. The American Negro Exposition of 1940 was a celebration of “the 75th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery” (Chicagohistory.org). It fell in the midst of the Great Migration, a mass movement of African Americans out of the south to northern and midwestern cities, one of which was Chicago (National Archives).
The designer of the map itself is unknown. The map is south-oriented, and depicts the various routes with their corresponding numbers along the roads of Chicago.
The accompanying text explains the recent growth of highway transportation in the busy city of Chicago, and how “fifteen established motor bus lines operate out of Chicago from coast to coast” (Archive.org).
In the sphere of public transit, maps like this and other wayfinding material would be important for citizens to feel confident in using public transit, especially if it was in an unfamiliar place. Therefore, these maps had to be designed in a somewhat intuitive and easily understood manner.
