1941.07.03 “Map”
by Ralph Lee (1906-1947)
14.6 x 23.3 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection
Ralph Lee was an editorial cartoonist for the Portland Oregonian. He died suddenly, at 41, in January 1947. His cousin, Art Bimrose, was the editorial cartoonist for the Oregonian for more than three decades. In 1937, the Oregonian hired him part-time to work on printing plates. Following Lee’s death, Bimrose was hired as the Sunday editorial cartoonist.
On the eve of July 4, 1941, the US can no longer think only about distant Europe, to the east, but must now think about the emerging threat from its western side, as Alaska now sits as the back door into the US following the Nazi invasion of the USSR, 11 days earlier. Newspapers are full of maps that illustrate the relentless, creeping conquests of the Nazi leader.
Concerns about the North Pacific were already rising because of Japan’s actions in occupying Indochina, and US–Japanese relations were deteriorating.
Isolationists tended to downplay all of this, but preparedness advocates did not. America’s vulnerability does not end at the coasts of the lower 48, where readiness is growing.
What does independence mean in a world on fire? Independence requires awareness of threats from both directions.
