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# Long description

The caption describes the key features of the map. A heading at the top of the map indicates the area covered by the map. It reads as follows: ‘Nationalities Map No. 1 – Polk Street to Twelfth, Halsted Street to Jefferson, Chicago.

North is at the top, and is indicated by the word North in brackets. South is also marked at the bottom of the map.

The scale is not given.

A legend is provided at the right hand side of the map, running sideways from the bottom right to the top right of the map. It lists the colour coding used in the map. White represents English Speaking (excluding Irish), green represents Irish. German is depicted in red-ish brown, Dutch in a striped red-ish brown and Russian in pale rose. Polish is depicted in striped pink, Italian in dark blue and Swiss in striped blue. French is depicted in brown, French Canadian in striped brown and Bohemian in yellow. Scandinavian is depicted in pale green, Chinese in orange and ‘Colored’ in black. Underneath this is the following text: ‘Lots uncoloured are occupied by factories, stores etc. not by dwellings’.

The map shows the grid of streets with blocks running from left to right across the map. Each street is named, beginning with W. Polk St. to the north, followed from north to south by Ewing, Forquer, W.Taylor, De Koven and Bunker, ending with W. 12th at the southernmost point. Three streets running from north to south are indicated. These are S. Halsted, at the westernmost edge of the map, S.Despaines slightly east of the centre of the map, and S. Jefferson at the easternmost edge. Every individual plot is indicated and numbered on the map.

The overall impression of the map is to demonstrate the complex and diverse mixing of nationalities in this area of Chicago. Some patterns are discernible. To the North-East of the map there is a concentration of dark blue, representing Italian residents. To the south, particularly around De Koven and Bunker, the yellow colour representing Bohemians is strikingly common, while the block in the extreme South-East of the map has a high proportion of Russians.