Committee on a National Atlas of the United States

The Committee on a National Atlas was established on December 17, 1954, by the Earth Sciences Division of the Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, with 13 members from agencies including the Agricultural Research Service, Army Map Service, Bureau of the Census, and Geological Survey. The committee was organized to investigate ways and means of producing a national atlas similar to those of France and the forthcoming one of Canada. Previous committees of the Association of American Geographers and the American Geographical Society had concluded that a loose-leaf atlas presents the only feasible type at that time.