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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
The "Time & Tide" Map of the Atlantic Charter
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

The "Time & Tide" Map of the Atlantic Charter

Artifact IDMO 2024.1
Object Type Poster
Artist (British cartographer, architect, and graphic designer)
Publisher (British publishing house, founded 1848)
Publisher (British map publisher 1900 - 1945)
Printer (British publishing house, founded 1848)
Date1942
Mediumpaper, ink
Dimensionsoverall H 32 in x W 43 in (81.3 cm x 109.2 cm )
Physical DescriptionA color poster commemorating the August 1941 meeting of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill aboard a ship in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, and the resulting Atlantic Charter.

The poster features a pictorial world map titled, "The 'TIME & TIDE' Map of THE ATLANTIC CHARTER." Running along the top of the map is an illustrated scroll with the text of the Atlantic Charter declaration followed by the facsimile signatures of FDR and Churchill. The map identifies the world continents and countries as of 1941 and uses symbols - along with a map key - to indicate the agriculture and raw materials those areas are known for. Various naval routes are also indicated. In the lower left corner of the map is a black and white illustration representing agriculture and war production. On the right side of the map is an illustrated seal with text inside highlighting the August 14, 1941 Atlantic Conference meeting of Roosevelt and Churchill. The date and artist's name are printed within a small box in the lower right corner of the map: MacDonald Gill 1942.

Printed below the map: COPYRIGHT, 1943 / PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY GEORGE PHILIP & SON, LTD., LONDON / GEORGE PHILIP & SON, LTD., THE LONDON GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE.
Historical NoteBritish magazine, "Time & Tide," commissioned artist MacDonald Gill to produce this “Map of the Atlantic Charter” in 1942 and issued it as part of the "morale-boosting" effort.

The Atlantic Charter was the statement of principles agreed to by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain at their first wartime conference, August 9-12, 1941.

The conference was held on board naval vessels anchored in Placentia Bay, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The Charter was not an official document, but rather a joint statement expressing the war aims of the two countries--one technically neutral and the other at war.

The Charter expressed the two countries' beliefs in the rights of self-determination, of all people to live in freedom from fear and want, and of freedom of the seas, as well as the belief that all nations must abandon the use of force and work collectively in the fields of economics and security.

One of the major provisions of the Atlantic Charter declared as follows:

". . . [A]fter the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, [we] hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all men in all lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want. . . . [S]uch a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance."

The agreement is often cited by historians as one of the first significant steps towards the formation of the United Nations.

The joint declaration was issued by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill on August 14, 1941.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDonated to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Oliver Jelleyman in 2023.
Credit LineGift of the Jelleyman family in loving memory of Roger Jelleyman
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesOriginal Posters from World War I and World War II (National Archives Identifier 739394)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestricted
CopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Not on view