FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

Where did you get all of those maps?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about the collection. It took me about twenty-five years to buy all of the maps you see in the Changing Boundaries collection. I bought them from map and used book dealers around the world. The first map I bought was in 1984 from Dirk Cable in Pasadena. The place I bought the most maps was Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you want to buy some original maps of your own, go and see Andre Dumont at Dumont Maps and Books of the West.

I have always been a collector. In one of my careers I was also a manufacturing entrepreneur and in the early 1980’s to compete with an Asian company I opened a maquiladora factory in Mexicali, Mexico. Eventually I ended up with factories in Nogales, Tijuana and Singapore as well. About the time of my first Mexican factory I read a book called Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. One piece of advice he gave was to make your hobby align with your career. So when you worked on your hobby it would help your career and visa versa. I started to collect maps and books showing the history of the relationship between Mexico and the United States. I framed some of the maps and hung them in my factories and offices in the US and Mexico. The maps have started innumerable conversations and been an extremely good social lubricant.

Over time the collection has grown to about 100 maps and 250 books. All of them are in some way related to the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

What is the best way to look at a collection of maps?

You can look at maps as Art. Admire the cartouches and the printing.
Examine how the cartographer filled in the blanks spaces. Did he make things up?

You can also look at a collection of maps as reflections of society. Note, for instance, that early maps were hand drawn then printed on expensive paper and were only available to the elite. In the 1800’s printing technology improved and maps became available to everyone. Maps used to be full of fanciful claims, there is less of that now. Today we have maps on our phones that can be customized. They are not permanent but they are almost free.

You can view this collection for the big three:
California as an Island,
Texas as an Independent Republic and
Mexico including California.

One final way you can look at maps, and this is my favorite, is you can play “where’s Waldo” except make it “Where’s Tucson” or “Where’s El Paso.” Just pick a place and see what happens to it on the various maps.

My Grandmother used to live in (fill in the blank) but it doesn’t show on any of the maps.

Answer coming soon

I saw the Map with Azatlan on it doesn’t this mean that this is really part of Mexico.

Answer coming soon

 

Why do you bother to exhibit these maps?

What I want to do with this collection is to give people an opportunity to think about borders and migration in a different way. By looking at the maps you can see that the border has moved many times and that the current border line was based on a series of little decisions. Like where the French built a trading post. And which Catholic religious order was in favor with the King of Spain. They just happened.

I won’t say that we don’t need borders. But I will say that if you study these maps you will see that boundaries that allow easy flow like the boundary between Arizona and California work better for people than boundaries that try to stop almost all flow like the boundary between Arizona and Sonora.

And this is the subversive part. I hope that by sharing with you some stories and my enthusiasm for maps I have established some credibility so that you will listen to the real points I’m trying to make are:

Don’t argue with your next-door neighbors.

Fences and walls don’t work very well.

People will move around.