Folklore

This map illustrates a collection of characters from American folkloric literature in relation to the locations of their stories. Some notable examples include Paul Bunyan, Rip Van Winkle, Pecos Bill, and Huck Finn.

William Gropper was a well-known artist and advocate for the poor during his career in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Due to the fact that he contributed to several journals with known communist ties, he attracted the attention of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1953. Although the anti-communist crusader never cited this particular map as especially controversial, McCarthy declared Gropper’s entire body of work anti-American and the campaign was detrimental to Gropper’s career for several years.