At first glance, Imus’ “The Essential Geography of the United States of America” may look like any other U.S. wall map. It’s about 4 feet by 3 feet. It uses a standard, two-dimensional ...

but the combination of teaching aids in the Geographical Study is unusual. Built into the back of the case, for example, is a 3D relief map of the United States made of papier-mâché or plaster.

was meant to fill a void in educational texts about American history and geography. The idea to superimpose an eagle over a map of the United States came to mapmaker Joseph Churchman thanks to a ...