Charles H. Ruth

Charles H. Ruth (1889–1949) was considered the founding father of the

Army Map Service The Army Map Service (AMS) was the military cartographic agency of the United States Department of Defense from 1941 to 1968, subordinated to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. On September 1, 1968, the AMS was redesignated the U.S. Army T ...

. Ruth was first commanding officer of the Army

Engineer Reproduction Plant Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

(ERP). Prior to 1917 the Army Corps of Engineers compiled and drafted maps. Reproduction was accomplished by the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

or commercial facilities. The ERP was the predecessor organization to the Army Map Service,

Army Topographic Command An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Defense Mapping Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

and now

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

. Before 1917, there was little concern or interest in the United States for maps of foreign countries. In 1917 America entered into World War I as a major ally in Europe. During the course of the conflict, the ERP produced some nine million maps. It was because of Captain Ruth's initial direction that the ERP became one of the major military topographic organizations in the world. Captain Ruth left the Army in 1919 and joined the ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Star ...

'' newspaper staff in Washington DC. In 1942 the ERP was moved from

Fort McNair Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To the peninsula's west is the Washington Chan ...

in Washington DC to

Brookmont, MD Brookmont is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Brookmont is often considered part of neighboring Bethesda because it falls within Bethesda's 20816 zip code. Geography As an uninco ...

. It was later redesigned as the Army Map Service. Captain Ruth died in 1949. Building #1 of the AMS was dedicated as the Ruth Building in 1953. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruth, Charles H. 1889 births 1949 deaths United States Army officers