Ruth Taylor White

Ruth Taylor White (fl. 1920s–1930s) was an American illustrator and cartographer best known for her brightly colored pictorial maps that captured the spirit of the interwar period. Little is recorded about her early life or training, but she emerged in the late 1920s as one of the most distinctive designers of decorative maps in the United States. Working with publishers such as George F. Cram and Rand McNally, she produced pictorial maps of individual states, regions, and foreign countries that combined geography with lively caricatures and whimsical vignettes.

Her most notable project was the Our U.S.A. – A Gay Geography series, published in 1935 with text by Frank J. Taylor, which presented all fifty states (then forty-eight) in a humorous, cartoon-like style. These maps offered a blend of education and entertainment, using exaggerated figures, icons, and color to highlight local industries, folklore, and culture. Popular in classrooms and libraries, her maps reflected the rise of pictorial cartography in early twentieth-century America and remain collectible for their charm and period style. Though her career was relatively brief, Ruth Taylor White left a lasting impression on American pictorial mapmaking.