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Making Waves with the First Ocean to Ocean Flight over Panama
In April 1913 pilot Robert G. Fowler and cameraman Ray Duhem took the first non-stop flight across Panama, all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. Their adventure was big news on the Isthmus, and was covered in the local press for the duration of their three week stay. In addition to being the first to accomplish the flight, they shot six reels of film that were to be released in theaters.
Things didn’t exactly go as planned…but lets start at the beginning.
After becoming the first to fly coast-to-coast across the United States in 1912, Fowler started preparing for his flight across Panama. He and Jay Gage, a Los Angeles aeronautical engineer and aviator, collaborated on the design of a more powerful single propeller tractor biplane. Three significant design features were the passenger seat situated in-front of the pilot which would house the cameraman, the greater span of the upper planes on the wings, and the segmented manufacturing so that it could easily be crated for shipping to Panama. Because there were no airfields on either side of the route, wooden pontoons were affixed to the bottom, transforming it in to a hydroplane.
Note the dotted lines in the drawing which indicate where the planes of the wings could be cut for crating.1
Days before his departure Fowler learned the high-test fuel that the plane needed was not available in Panama. He quickly asked the Union Oil Company of California to ship 50 gallons on one of their tankers headed that way. After his two week trip, Fowler arrived to learn that the heat in the cargo hold had caused the tin cans to rupture and his fuel had evaporated. Luckily, the Panama Fire Department donated some of their own high-test fuel so the flight could continue as planned.
Robert Fowler with his airplane crates after arriving in Panama. One of the wooden pontoons is in the lower left corner. II.2022.22.4. Gift of Brad Wilde The airplane was transported to Bella Vista beach where it was assembled. Fowler commented on the dramatic Pacific side tides, “One big trouble on the beach I had set up as base was the large tide movement. At this point there was a 30 foot tide change – when the tide was out my plane was a quarter mile from the water.”2
Robert Fowler’s plane being assembled on the beach. II.2021.36.49. Robert J. Karrer Papers Fowler began test flights shortly after his arrival which were reported in local publications. Some flights were more harrowing than others and included mid-air stalls, a flooded and broken engine, near collisions with the shore, and a nude Duhem out on the pontoon spinning the propeller to help Fowler restart the engine. The newspapers didn’t report on many of those details, so to learn more about the test flight mis-adventures read The Life of Robert G. Fowler by Maria Schell Burden.
Use the left and right arrows to move through the slideshow of clippings from the Robert J. Karrer Papers.
A group of men push Robert Fowler’s hydroplane into the water. From the Photo Album of Albert Christopher Garlington. II.2022.5.1. Fowler and Duhem made their historic trip on April 27th, 1913. While flying over Culebra Cut they were captured in the background of a photograph.
As they approached the end of their hour and 45 minute long flight, right over Cristobal, they ran out of gas and the engine stopped. Fowler was successful in guiding the plane to a landing spot in shallow water.
The image on the right is taken from America’s Triumph at Panama by Ralph Emmett Avery, 1913. Come check out the book in our Latin American and Caribbean Collection Library, https://ufl-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01FALSC_UFL/6ad6fc/alma990227615780306597
The note on the back of this postcard from the Robert J. Karrer papers mentions watching and hearing Fowler’s plane flying over Panama. This was the first “aeroplane” the sender had ever seen. II.2021.36.49. 
Fowler’s plane in Limon Bay near Colon. Duhem, the cinematographer, is in the foreground with his camera box on his shoulder. II.2024.164.1. Gift of Mickey Fitzgerald. Below is some of the footage that Duhem shot from the plane. You can watch them fly over Canal Zone towns and the construction site of the Canal. At minute 10:23 you can see the moment they run out of gas and the propeller stops in the film’s frame!
Near the end locals come out to greet them and help pull the plane on shore. The young ones have fun waving at the camera, just like they do today.
Panama by Air (Reel 4), Ray Duhem, 1914, Internet Archive Despite the harrowing achievement, the real drama was yet to come.
Charles Kellogg Field was the editor of Sunset The Pacific Monthly in April 1914 when the article about Fowler and Duhem’s flight was published. He and other aviation enthusiasts had concerns that Congress did not fully appreciate the importance and potential danger of airplanes. The author of the article, Riley E. Scott, was a West Point graduate and bombing expert who realized that their flight exposed a weakness in the Canal’s defenses. The cover caused quite a stir.
The image on the left is the cover of Sunset The Pacific Monthly, April 1914 issue. II.2019.999.249.
Three months after publication, at the request of the War Department, Fowler, Duhem, Scott, and Field were arrested and charged with spying by violating a statute that prohibited sharing military information. While filming the Canal’s construction Duhem had also filmed military installations. Scott included a still image of the future site for the 16-inch gun on Naos Island off the coast of Panama City in the article with a dramatic caption.
A page from Riley E. Scott’s article “Can the Panama Canal be Destroyed From the Air?”. Published in Sunset The Pacific Monthly, April 1914. II.2019.999.249. The men appeared in court and explained that they had been granted permission prior to the flight by both the War Department in Washington and by Colonel George C. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal construction. The case was dropped a year later.
The image on the right is taken from The Life and Times of Robert G. Fowler by Maria Schell Burden.
Fowler’s plane is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. (minus the wooden pontoons damaged during the crash landing)
The Fowler-Gage Biplane flown over the Isthmus of Panama in 1913. Gift of Robert Fowler. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/fowler-gage-biplane/nasm_A19510004000
Two other efforts had been made to fly over Panama by different parties: O.G. Simmons, Al Welsh, and James H. Hare from Collier’s Weekly and Jesse Seligman. Neither group attempted the crossing. The Collier’s group cited lack of viable landing sites as a critical part of their decision. Severe air crosscurrents and wind were also dangerous elements. Fowler experienced the significant winds first hand on his flight. In one event an air current flipped the plane around so that it was flying in the opposite direction, and in another an air pocket over Culebra sent the plane plunging 300 feet straight down.
These images are taken from an article James H. Hare wrote in the Aero Club of America Bulletin called, “Why We Did Not Fly Across the Panama Isthmus.”
Simmons and Welsh at the Culebra Cut 
James H. Hare Looking for a Landing Place -
Lessons with Lucho
Lucho Azcarraga’s name comes up in conversations and oral history interviews more than almost anyone else. So many people have fond memories of hearing him play at the Amador Officer’s Club or dancing the night away to his music at the El Panama. He is a true icon of Canal Zone and Panamanian life.
Album covers of Lucho Azcrraga records, Alegres Pascuas en Panama and Navidades en Panama: Christmas in Panama, 2005.85.1.10 and 2005.85.1.10, Gifts of Judy Benoit
Lucho got his start playing piano for silent movies at three theaters in Panama and the Canal Zone- the El Dorado from 1-3pm, Amador from 3-5pm, and the Cecilia from 5-7pm for a total of three dollars a day. When talking pictures came along he improvised and started playing the organ in the 10-minute break between shows. He slowly moved from the theaters to the “gardens”, particularly at El Rancho, where he provided entertainment both at lunch time and during the evening hours. The rest is history!
Although Lucho is known for his small combo or “conjunto”, did you know he started with an 8-piece orchestra?
Image from the back of El Panama Fiesta album cover
This final post of the “Twenty-Five” series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Panama Canal Museum and their continued support after the collection came to the University of Florida, was also inspired by Don Randel’s oral history interview and a story he told about taking lessons from Lucho. (See the previous post that includes clips from Don’s interview about his family’s business in Panama City and sports.)
Listen to Don’s wonderful story about taking lessons from Lucho in the clip below. You can also visit the digital collection to hear his full interview.
Use the left and right arrows to view the two photos of El Panama Hilton.
Carnival Float, February 1958, 2016.64.1, Chipi Azcarraga on maracas, Vic Herr playing congas, Edgar Ameglio behind the organ, Don Randel playing the organ. This photo is of a rehearsal for the carnival Tuesday parade in Panama City. Don also mentions some of the other people in the music and theater worlds of Panama that he remembers or that had an impact on his life and career. Use the arrows at the left and right to move through the slideshow of people that Don mentions. Do you have memories of them as well?
Victor Herr (and Don Randel on the bottom left), Zonian, Balboa High School Yearbook, 1957 
Don Musselman, Zonian, Balboa High School Yearbook, 1957 
Emile Beaumont (Don’s piano teacher), Panama American, September 1944 
Judge Guthrie Crowe, Panama Canal Review, September 1952 
Dolores Leacock (Pianist), Panama American, April 13, 1956 
Jose Quintero and Vivien Leigh (Scarlett in Gone with the Wind), Panama This Month, January 1962
Amador didn’t have all the fun.
Fort Kobbe Officers’ Wives’ Club Scrapbook, 1957-1958, 2011.999.236 
Fort Kobbe Officers’ Wives’ Club Scrapbook, 1957-1958, 2011.999.236
Frank Baldwin also told a unique story about Lucho in his “Memoirs of Panama and the Canal Zone.”
“My father married Lea Azcarraga, who was one of Lucho Azcarraga’s older sisters. She was born in
David, province of Chiriqui. She was one of the first women in Panama to drive a car, smoked and
played golf. She was one of the first Panamanians to learn to speak English, too. She lived in Panama
City by Simon Bolivar Plaza where Teatro National is, and worked for the Red Cross before marrying.
One year my brother and I went to the US with my father and mother. Lucho came with us, but my
father left him in New York while we went to Canada where he had arranged for Lucho to take
classes from Lew White at the Roxy Theater, which was very famous. In those days, they didn’t have
talking movies, so they had organs and pianos playing in the different theaters. Lew White was so
impressed with Lucho that he called a fellow named Jesse Crawford from the Paramount Theater to
listen to him. When we returned, my father tried to pay but they wouldn’t take the money because
they wanted Lucho to stay to play in one of the theatres. But Lucho was only 17, and wanted to
go home. Lucho had played music like the Tango, DanzĂłn and all the Latin music for these famous
organists, and they were fascinated because they had not heard it that way before. Lucho was five
years older than I was. When I was 15 years old I played in Lucho’s orchestra. In those days it wasn’t
an orchestra, it was a “combo”, and I played the clarinet at the old Union Club. My father would
drop me off, and then Lucho would take me home later.” – Frank A. BaldwinLea Azcarraga sounds pretty interesting. We would love to know more about her too.
Postcard of the Union Club, Panama City, Gift of Brad Wilde, II.2021.36.106
Frank Townsend and Sydney Townsend Corbett highlight Lucho and others in their write-up The Music Makers 2022 – Lucho, Papito, Leroy, Mario, Tito, and Frank. They talk about the joy of dancing to music in Panama and the thrill of once again experiencing live Panamanian music at the Panama Canal Society Reunions each year. Read their story in the digital collection by clicking here or download a PDF below.
Lucho was born in 1912, two years before the Canal was even finished!
Lucho and Frank Townsend, 1992. From The Music Makers, II.2023.52.2
Did you know that in addition to the organ Lucho played the accordion? If you listened to the clip of Don Randel’s interview you do.
Share a comment about your favorite Lucho moment and enjoy this gallery of some of his album covers.
This post is part of our fall focus on the important work of the Panama Canal Museum and on the oral history program they began and which continues today. This year is the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Panama Canal Museum in 1998. The museum operated for 14 years in Seminole, Florida, before closing in July 2012 and transferring its collection to UF. The successes achieved by the museum paved the way for the PCMC to develop as a preeminent research collection for the study of the American era of the Canal. For more information on the history of the Museum, please visit go.ufl.edu/pcm
Between now and the end of December, we are celebrating this 25th Anniversary and hope to honor their hard work as well as that of our Friends of the PCMC group by adding $13,000 to the $12,000 that was raised by this year’s Silent Auction for a total of $25,000 – $25,000 for 25 amazing years!
If you would like help us reach the goal please donate here: https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/oralhistory/. All funds will go to support the PCMC oral history program.
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Insurance on the Isthmus
Balboa High School, Parakeet, October 9, 1954 How was coverage at one of the world’s biggest construction sites?
Earlier this year we had the pleasure of doing an oral history interview with Don Randel, Balboa High School Class of 1958. He told us about his family’s connection to the Panama Canal and a unique element of the construction days – insurance.
Don’s aunt and uncle, Sally and Henry Seymour, arrived on the Isthmus during the construction of the Canal. Sailing records indicate they went back and forth from Panama a few times before finally settling down and opening their insurance business, Seymour Agency, around 1913. Don remembers that it started off providing workers insurance for Canal employees.
Sailing record from the S.S. Havana. Leaving Colon on November 11, 1905 and arriving in New York on November 17, 1905. We enlarged the names of Henry and Sally so you could see them. 
While we were working on this blog post we got a donation of a large group of old envelopes associated with the Panama Canal. We couldn’t believe that one of them was from Henry Seymour! And it was addressed to Hartley Rowe, the engineer we featured in the Manhattan in Panama blog post a few months ago. What timing! According to their Certificate of Registration, Henry and Sally lived in Camp Otis in 1914, before they later moved into more glamorous quarters (hint…it is a well known hotel on the Pacific side).
Certificate of Registration of American Citizen, Henry and Sally Seymour, July 1, 1913 
Photo Postcard of Camp Otis Looking North, Gift of Brad Wilde, II.2021.36.47 Henry Seymour passed away in 1927, but Sally kept the business going, running it out of the Tivoli Hotel until the 1940s when she decided to retire and asked Don’s father to take over the business.
Use the arrows on the left and right to click through the slideshow of U.S. Census records that include Henry and Sally Seymour living at the Tivoli.
Sally could often be seen on evenings in the dining room of the Tivoli with her beloved cocker spaniel Chica.
Listen to Don talk about his aunt and uncle and the insurance agency.
Use the left and right arrows to flip through the slideshow below to see a few Tivoli Hotel items and photos. According to the menu, Sally probably paid 50 cents for her scotch on the rocks (listen to the clip if you don’t know what this means).
The Panama American includes a notice of Sally’s farewell party in March 1946 as she prepared to permanently return to the United States. Sadly, only a few days later, the same paper shared the news of her unfortunate passing in New Orleans, part way through the voyage.
Follow the coverage of Sally’s departure and funeral service through this gallery of clips from the Panama American newspaper. (Issues: March 2, 8, 14, 20, 24, 1946)
Most of the early 20th century issues of the Panama American were digitized through funding generously provided by a family of long-time supporters of the Panama Canal Museum and the PCMC here at UF. This newspaper is one of the most utilized items in the PCMC collection and has been viewed over 13 million times.
Don’s father ran the Seymour Agency for many years and Don spoke of fond memories visiting the agency office which his father had moved into Panama City. Under his father’s ownership the agency sponsored baseball, bowling, and cricket teams.
In his interview Don talked about some of those sports teams and his own Little League team, the Firemen. We have a wonderful photo of the 1952 team that includes Don among the ranks.
Listen to a clip about sports from Don’s interview.
1952 Little League Firemen Team. A handwritten caption on the back of the photo lists the names of some coaches and players. Back Row Coaches: Huddleston, ? ; Middle Row Players: Richard Morris, ?, Ted Webb, Fred Dube, John Chase, ?, Mo Shoch, Don Randel; Front Row: ?, ?, Jim Price, ?, ?, Frank Townsend, ?, ?, ?. Gift of Frank Townsend. II.2019.39.5 Can you help us identify anyone else?
Stay tuned to hear more from Don’s interview in our next post. It might make you want to break out your old records and dance...
This post is part of our fall focus on the important work of the Panama Canal Museum and on the oral history program they began and which continues today. This year is the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Panama Canal Museum in 1998. The museum operated for 14 years in Seminole, Florida, before closing in July 2012 and transferring its collection to UF. The successes achieved by the museum paved the way for the PCMC to develop as a preeminent research collection for the study of the American era of the Canal. For more information on the history of the Museum, please visit go.ufl.edu/pcm
Between now and the end of December, we are celebrating their 25th Anniversary and hope to honor their hard work as well as that of our Friends of the PCMC group by adding $13,000 to the $12,000 that was raised by this year’s Silent Auction for a total of $25,000 – $25,000 for 25 amazing years!
If you would like help us reach the goal please donate here: https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/oralhistory/. All funds will go to support the PCMC oral history program.
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Audio Clips (and more) about Amador
Congratulations to our friends at the Biomuseo who debuted their exhibit Amador: Ayer y Hoy earlier this year. The exhibit consists of 48 panels displayed throughout the Amador Causeway and explores its history from creation during the construction of the Canal and service as a military installation through its use today as a public place for everyone to enjoy.
When the team from the Biomuseo was working on the exhibit in 2022 they came to the University of Florida for a week to conduct research. Many photographs from the PCMC collection can be seen on the panels in Panama! Their visit coincided with our annual luncheon so they were also able to meet members of the Panama Canal Society and the Friends of the Panama Canal Museum Collection and they later interviewed many about their memories of Amador and the causeway. Numerous quotes from those interviews are featured throughout the exhibit. We are working with the Biomuseo on the long term preservation of the full interviews.
Image provided by the Biomuseo The exhibit explores many different facets of the history of the causeway: history, fishing, music, art, and biodiversity to name a few.
Image provided by the Biomuseo The land that was occupied by Fort Amador and the causeway that was once part of Fort Grant were created with material excavated during the construction of the Panama Canal. The area of Fort Amador was known as the “Balboa Dump” and was originally covered by water. The causeway served as a breakwater for the Pacific entrance of the Canal, and also connected the Canal Zone to the “fortified islands” of Naos, Culebra, Perico, and Flamenco which housed important defense installations. The railroad that had been used to build the breakwater was originally left in place to move ammunition and other military equipment.
These early photos show some of the different phases of construction Click on an image to enlarge it.
Amador, the causeway, and particularly the Officer’s Club were a big part of life for many. The Amador Officer’s Club housed high school dances, many enjoyed fishing off the causeway, and swimming at the beach club.
Enjoy the following clips from our oral history collection.
Interview with Malena, Didi, and Fred Bremer, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/aa00013365/00001 
Panama Canal Review, October 1952 Interview with Jose Vanga, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/aa00040427/00001 
Postcard of Fort Amador, II.2021.36.106 
The Tropic Times, June 15, 1990 
During a recent trip to Panama we had the pleasure of spending a wonderful morning with our Biomuseo friends who showed us around the causeway, the old Officers Club which is now their work space, and gave us a great drive-by tour of some iconic buildings in the former Canal Zone.
Visit the virtual exhibit to hear some of the clips (https://biomuseo.org/amador/) and next time you are in Panama, stop by the causeway, enjoy the beautiful view, and explore the exhibit which was funded by the public diplomacy grant program of the United States Embassy in Panama.
Panel number 31 is pretty fun…
The fabulous team at the Biomuseo is putting the finishing touches on the next exhibit which will go up in Ciudad del Saber, which occupies the land that was formerly Ft. Clayton.
What are your favorite memories of the causeway?
Panama Canal Review, October 1979
This post is part of our fall focus on the important work of the Panama Canal Museum and on the oral history program they began and which continues today. This year is the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Panama Canal Museum in 1998. The museum operated for 14 years in Seminole, Florida, before closing in July 2012 and transferring its collection to UF. The successes achieved by the museum paved the way for the PCMC to develop as a preeminent research collection for the study of the American era of the Canal. For more information on the history of the Museum, please visit go.ufl.edu/pcm
Between now and the end of December, we are celebrating their 25th Anniversary and hope to honor their hard work as well as that of our Friends of the PCMC group by adding $13,000 to the $12,000 that was raised by this year’s Silent Auction for a total of $25,000 – $25,000 for 25 amazing years!
If you would like help us reach the goal please donate here: https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/oralhistory/. All funds will go to support the PCMC oral history program.
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Stuff about Sturgis
The Sturgis docked in Gatun Lake. U.S. Army Photo courtesy of Office of History, HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Oral history interviews are a great place to learn about parts of Panama Canal history that you might not have known about or have forgotten. At this year’s Panama Canal Society reunion in Orlando, we had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Carol Hellums.
She and her husband Bill had done an interview with the Panama Canal Museum in 2011 and it opens with a great story about how they met in 1968 on an airplane headed to Panama. Bill was moving down to serve as part of the crew on the Sturgis, and Carol was visiting her parents.
Carol taught us about the MH-1A pressurized water nuclear reactor, aka the Sturgis, the first floating nuclear power station. It was built by the Army Reactors Branch of the Army Corps of Engineers as a way to generate power in remote, inaccessible, or difficult locations – the “MH” stands for mobile, high power. The Sturgis was a converted Liberty Ship, a special class of cargo ship that was built during World War II. Because the vessel would be stationary for the majority of its life it was re-designed to be a towed craft, and it was taken to its home near the Gatun Spillway in August 1968.
Sturgis in Gatun Lake. Image from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers exhibit Army Nuclear Power Program – MH-1A Sturgis. In the early months of 1968, the Canal experienced a water shortage that affected both the operations of the Canal and the electricity supplied to the Canal Zone which was provided by the hydroelectric power station at Gatun Dam. By subsidizing the power station, the water that would have been used could instead be reserved for transiting ships.
The Sturgis generated electricity for the Canal Zone from 1968-1975, along with a second barge, the diesel-fueled Andrew J. Weber added in November 1968. It is estimated that they helped reserve over one trillion gallons of water for use in Canal operations.
Bill worked on the Sturgis monitoring the environment, taking water and sediment samples under the boat, and gathering biomass further afield in the jungles for radiological analysis. He and Carol joke that he basically got to fish in the Canal Zone for a living. Listen to a clip from their oral history below:
Transcript In the clip Bill mentions that The Big Picture, a news series produced by the U.S. Army, came down to Panama and filmed him. It took a while, but after watching a lot of episodes I finally found the one that features the Sturgis! View the episode below. The section about the Sturgis begins at 17:17:
Eventually two turbines were added to the Canal system and the Sturgis became obsolete. This story reminds us that the water shortage the Canal is experiencing today is not a new problem and that numerous efforts have been made to mitigate the issue over time. Creative solutions will undoubtedly continue be a part of the Canal’s future as it faces increasing environmental challenges.
In their interview, Bill also told an incredible story about a storm the Sturgis weathered during it’s trip back to Ft. Belvoir, Virginia to begin the deactivation of the reactor. Listen to a clip from the story:
Transcript Click through the slideshow below by pressing the arrows at the left and right sides of the image:
MH-1A Control Room with Operator, 1965-1977 . United States Armed Forces Nuclear Energy Association. https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15141coll5/id/4115/rec/16 
Shoe covers from the MH-1A Sturgis. Office of History, HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15141coll5/id/4131/rec/12 
Cutaway model of the MH-1A Sturgis. Office of History, HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15141coll5/id/4137/rec/2 
Reactor containment vessel of the MH-1A reactor. Office of History, HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15141coll5/id/4138/rec/9
After the extensive process of deactivation, the ship was “mothballed” as part of the James River Reserve Fleet. Its final decontamination began in 2014 and by 2019 it had been scrapped.
To learn more about the origin, life, and decommissioning of the Sturgis view this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers exhibit: https://www.usace.army.mil/About/History/Exhibits/Nuclear-Power-Program/Sturgis/
To listen to Bill and Carol’s full interview visit out digital collection: An Interview with William and Carol Hellums
Do you remember seeing the Sturgis? Do you have any stories about the ship’s time at the Canal?
This post is part of our fall focus on the important work of the Panama Canal Museum and on the oral history program they began and which continues today. This year is the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Panama Canal Museum in 1998. The museum operated for 14 years in Seminole, Florida, before closing in July 2012 and transferring its collection to UF. The successes achieved by the museum paved the way for the PCMC to develop as a preeminent research collection for the study of the American era of the Canal. For more information on the history of the Museum, please visit go.ufl.edu/pcm
Between now and the end of December, we are celebrating their 25th Anniversary and hope to honor their hard work as well as that of our Friends of the PCMC group by adding $13,000 to the $12,000 that was raised by this year’s Silent Auction for a total of $25,000 – $25,000 for 25 amazing years!
If you would like help us reach the goal please donate here: https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/oralhistory/. All funds will go to support the PCMC oral history program.
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Twenty-Five
Envelope created to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Panama Canal, 1914-1939. Two Canal Zone stamps also created to celebrate the 25th Anniversary, Scott 126 and 127. Gift of Dr. Carl A. and Martha B. Peterson. II.2018.89.1.
Happy 25th Anniversary to the Panama Canal Museum
This year is the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Panama Canal Museum in 1998. The museum successfully operated for 14 years in Seminole, Florida, before closing in July 2012 and transferring its collection to UF. The successes achieved by the museum over those 14 years paved the way for the PCMC to develop as a preeminent research collection for the study of the American era of the Canal. For more information on the history of the Museum, please visit go.ufl.edu/pcm
Twenty-five years ago a group of individuals got together with the common goal of preserving the history of the American Era of the Panama Canal. Early on a committee was established to acquire the items needed for this “Repository of Memories”: artifacts, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, letters, yearbooks, programs, commissary memorabilia, reports, operations manuals, books, signs…you name it. Those treasures became the foundation of the Panama Canal Museum and were used to create permanent exhibits about the Spanish, French, and American Eras of the Canal, the Tivoli, and the Panama Railroad as well as 17 rotating and traveling exhibits. Under their stewardship the collection grew to over 13,000 objects.
Enjoy this slideshow highlighting PCM’s history. Press the arrows at the right and left to move through the images.
The school bell from Cristobal joining the Panama Canal Museum’s collection 
Panama Canal Museum Review, October 2001 
Panama Canal Museum Review, November 2001 
Panama Canal Museum Review, Fall/Winter 2008 
Panama Canal Museum Review, May 2005 
Panama Canal Museum Staff and Volunteers in Panamanian style dress. 
Panama Canal Museum Review, Spring/Summer 2006 
Chris Skeie and Ed Beasley with a Canal Zone Boy Scouts Flag 
Panama Canal Museum Review, October 2003 
Panama Canal Museum Review, Spring/Summer 2008 
Panama Canal Museum Review, Fall/Winter 2011
In addition to building and running the museum, they earned federal grants, had a gift shop, created educational curriculum, designed ornaments, made a board game, hosted potluck lunches (including a lunch with “Teddy Roosevelt” in 2008), ran a silent auction and created exhibits to display at the Panama Canal Society Reunion, and published three books: Opening the Gates to Canal Cuisine: Preserving the American Era in 2005, Write of Passage: Stories of the American Era of the Panama Canal in 2008, and Panama Canal Townsites in 2012. This list goes on – their work and dedication was impressive.
They even got a phone call from the popular game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” with a request to answer some questions about the Panama Canal for the program! Does anyone know if they ever asked a contestant the question?
The video below offers a small glimpse into their efforts.
Although the Museum’s collection officially became part of the University of Florida in 2012, the founders and friends of the original museum have continued to steward, support, and build the collection. They are an essential part of the success of the Panama Canal Museum Collection at UF.
Panama Canal Museum Review, Spring/Summer 2011 Since the collection’s arrival at UF, it has grown to over 25,000 objects, more than 13,000 pages/items have been digitized, and our Friends have helped raise over $1.1 million to support it. In 2017, we opened the Albert H. Nahmad Panama Canal Gallery where the Panama Canal Museum’s legacy lives on through annual rotating exhibitions.
The Silent Auction that the Museum started hosting at the Panama Canal Society Reunion in 2003 has also continued and is now run by the Friends of the Panama Canal Museum Collection. The current auction committee includes some familiar faces from the Panama Canal Museum’s vendor tables, “The Walkerettes”.
The Walker sisters Mickey, Jeanne, and Carol and their aunt Emily Bliss volunteer, running the Panama Canal Museum’s vendor tables at the Panama Canal Society reunion in 2011. Read the Panama Canal Museum Review’s wonderful write up about these ladies and their families multi-generational history at the Canal on page six of the Fall/Winter 2011 issue. Between now and the end of December, we are hoping to honor their hard work by adding $13,000 to the $12,000 that the auction raised at the reunion this year for a total of $25,000 – $25,000 for 25 amazing years!
If you would like help us reach the goal please donate here: https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/oralhistory/. All funds will go to support the PCMC oral history program.
Another happy anniversary to the Panama Canal Museum and a huge thank you for everything you have done to collect and preserve this history!
Back in 2003 Leo Krziza made a similar challenge – he offered to donate $25,000 to the museum if other donations could be raised to match it. The response exceeded his expectations with gifts from others totaling $44,000. Leo presented his check, written in memory of his sister Esther, to Joe Wood at the Panama Canal Society Reunion.
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Manhattan in Panama
Do you know anyone that is connected both to the Panama Canal and the Manhattan Project?
There are likely more but here are highlights from the lives of three individuals who were associated with both: Hartley Rowe, Colonel Elmer Ellsworth Kirkpatrick, and Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer.
Hartley Rowe
Hartley Rowe was an industrial engineer who worked on the construction of the Panama Canal from 1904-1908. He joined the Isthmian Canal Commission in November 1904 and transferred back and forth between the Panama Railroad and the Canal Commission as an Electrician. He managed a power plant in La Boca and was a resident engineer until 1919 when he returned to the United States after almost 15 years of continued service at the Canal. His work in 1912 included managing air compressor plants which were critical to powering the steam shovels digging the Canal.
Rowe belonged to the Society of the Chagres and is mentioned in their yearbooks, serving as a Vice President 1915-1916. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/aa00013083/00001 He was also an active member of the Panama Canal Society and appears often in their publication the Canal Record.
Seating Chart for the Society of the Chagres Banquet, February 21, 1913. 2011.021.013. Gift of Linda Adelsberger. The name Ben Jenkins is noted on the seating chart and he happened to be sitting right across the table from Hartley Rowe. Do you know who Ben Jenkins was? His travels through the Canal during his work for the United Fruit Company are well documented in the Panama American newspaper.
Panama American, June 6, 1926. Were any of your family members there?
Rowe joined the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos in 1944 and worked on the team transitioning the implosion program from weapons research to production.
General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission in Santa Fe, NM, April 3, 1947. Left to Right: James B. Conant, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Brigadier General James McCormack, Hartley Rowe, John H. Manley, Isidor Isaac Rabi, and Roger S. Warner. Image from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Public Domain. Colonel Elmer E. Kirkpatrick
Elmer E. Kirkpatrick was an officer in the United States Army Quartermasters Corps and the Army Corps of Engineers. After graduating from West Point in 1925 his fourth, and first overseas, post was the Panama Canal. He arrived in August of 1939 and supervised war preparations at Fort Davis, Fort Randolph, France Field, and other anti-aircraft artillery positions around Gatun Lake.
The 1940 Census lists his family as living on the main road in Fort Randolph. 
In 1944, he started his work with the Manhattan Project. Initially he spent considerable time at Los Alamos and other locations. He assisted in inspecting bomb prototypes and observing training of the 509th Composite Group, the United States Army Air Force unit tasked with the deployment of nuclear weapons. He was also sent to the Pacific Island of Tinian where he was responsible for the development of facilities that would be used in the movements of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After extensive service in the Construction Division of the Pacific he moved to Jacksonville, Florida and was involved in building the initial facilities at Cape Canaveral.
Another interesting connection is his service as an assistant professor in the College of Architecture at the University of Florida. He was hired in June 1959 and taught in the Department of Building Construction.
University Record, Undergraduate Catalog 1962-1963, University of Florida. Held in the University Archives, a neighbor collection to PCMC in the Special & Area Studies Collections Library. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/uf00075594/00077 Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer
Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer was the wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer. While living in Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project she worked for the Health Group conducting blood tests designed to evaluate the dangers of radiation, she led social engagements to provide distractions from the stressful environment, and raised her two young children. Throughout her life she served as an important confidant to her husband who became an internationally known figure for his work on the atomic bomb.
Sadly, unlike the former two, Katherine’s association with the Panama Canal came at the end of her life. In 1972, she was planning to sail from the U.S. to Japan by way of the Canal but fell ill early in the voyage. She died of a pulmonary embolism at Gorgas Hospital in the Canal Zone. The record of her death is among the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Registers housed today in the National Archives of the United States.
During their time at the Institute of Advanced Study, Robert Oppenheimer had a greenhouse built for Kitty who was a trained botanist. She raised orchids there and often received rare varieties as gifts from her husband.
Many people mention the beautiful orchids in Panama in anecdotes and oral history interviews. I can’t help but think that Kitty would have very much enjoyed seeing them.
Taken from an article about orchids in Panama, published in the May 1970 Panama Canal Review. Stay tuned for a related blog post about Appendix 6.
Final Draft of Appendix 6, Isthmian Canal Studies 1947, 2014.133.1 -
Panoramic Panama
E.O. Goldbeck, Gatun Locks, 1930s, 2000.92 Some amazing treasures recently came back from the University of Florida Library’s Digital Support Services. Although they are all photographs, some items took two people to carry because of their incredible size – they are 6 feet long! (Thanks to Michele in our Grand Reading Room for being the second pair of hands)
Many of the photographs are images taken by E.O (Eugene Omar) Goldbeck, a commercial photographer who specialized in panoramic photography. He is know for using a Cirkut, a rotating panoramic camera, and for his images of military bases and personnel. In addition to Goldbeck’s name, look for his company “National Photo and News Service”.
Watch the Cirkut in action on YouTube. The spool of film that would have been inside the camera was about 10 inches tall and the unrolled film was 7 feet long. Goldbeck first visited the Panama Canal in 1914, and credited that trip with his introduction to the full potential of the panoramic format. Afterwards, he traveled to Panama every few years and stayed there for about three months each time. He took photographs of the U.S. military personnel and a few scenic views of the Canal and surrounding cities.
His panoramic photos are well known and easily recognizable for their often complex arrangements of people into formations. To capture these expansive photos he often had to climb tall towers, including the 505 foot tall Navy wireless tower in Panama.
E.O. Goldbeck, 33rd U.S. Infantry, Ft. Clayton, Panama Canal Zone, May 9, 1939. Click on this link to view a larger photo in our digital collection, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/uf00098453/00001 
E.O. Goldbeck, Troops of Ft. Amador, Panama Canal Zone, 1933. Click on this link to view a larger photo in our digital collection, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/uf00098450/00001 
E.O. Goldbeck, Ft. Sherman, Panama Canal Zone, 1930. Click on this link to view a larger photo in our digital collection, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/uf00098456/00001 
E.O. Goldbeck, Albrook Field, Panama Canal Zone, 1933. Click on this link to view a larger photo in our digital collection, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/uf00098449/00001 
E.O. Goldbeck, Culebra Cut, Panama Canal Zone. Click on this link to view a larger photo in our digital collection, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/pcmi002610/00001 During the 1914 trip Goldbeck stayed at the Army-Navy YMCA in Cristobal and purchased cigarettes there to use as trade currency on an excursion to the San Blas Islands. He exchanged 60 cigarettes for 60 parakeets which he released in the courtyard of the YMCA when he returned. He said that when he came back years later, there were still parakeets living in the courtyard’s palm trees.
Real Photo Postcard, Army & Navy YMCA, Cristobal C.Z., II.2021.36.106 On another trip to Panama in 1930, Goldbeck photographed the first airmail flight from the Canal Zone to Washington D.C. and New York City – famously flown by Charles Lindbergh. Goldbeck shot video footage of the postmaster giving Lindbergh the mail and took still photos of the airplane taking off. The plane then came back and picked up the film, transporting it as part of the mail delivery. That same evening, the footage Goldbeck created was featured as part of the news broadcast about the flight.
We are fortunate to have these beautiful and important Goldbeck photographs in the collection. Thank you to our Conservation and Preservation Department and Digital Support Services for helping us preserve them!
Have you seen Goldbecks’s photographs before? Was your family member stationed in the Canal Zone in the early 20th century and possibly featured in one of the images?
The book The Panoramic Photography of Eugene O. Goldbeck by Clyde W. Burleson and E. Jessica Hickman is a wonderful place to learn more about his adventures and photographic process. You can also hear an interesting story about Goldbeck and his photographs on an episode of Antiques Roadshow. https://www.pbs.org/video/appraisal-e-o-goldbeck-panoramic-photographs-vofq3d/
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Happy New Year! and the 10 for 10 review
Fireworks from Sosa Hill, c1960, 2007.072.001.002 We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We are back in the office and catching up before the spring semester gets in full swing.
As promised, we wanted to share an update with you about the 10 for 10 campaign we completed at the end of last year. The goal was to raise $10,000 in 10 weeks to honor the 10 year anniversary of the Panama Canal Museum Collection coming to the University of Florida. The funds will be used to support the Oral History Program.
We are thrilled to say that with Albert and Jane Nahmad, Kathy Egolf, Carol Meyer MD, and Joe and Bev Wood leading the charge, we were able to raise $19,401, almost doubling our goal. Thank you to everyone that participated. This tremendous show of support will help us continue conducting oral history interviews and capturing the incredible history and priceless memories of those that lived and worked at the Panama Canal.
A special thank you to Albert and Jane Nahmad, who donated $15,000 for the Oral History Program! The Nahmads previously had generously provided the funding to establish the Panama Canal Gallery, which is dedicated to Albert’s classmates in the Balboa High School Class of 1958 (https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/exhibits/gallery/).
Thank you for following the 10 weeks with us. Visit our Oral History Program page to keep listening to the amazing stories, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/collections/ohpcm.
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10 for 10 – week 10
Thank you for celebrating with us!
This is the final week, of our 10 FOR 10 campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Panama Canal Museum Collection’s (PCMC) arrival at the University of Florida. We will post an update on the success of the campaign in January so that you can share in the excitement.
We hope you have enjoyed the past ten weeks of oral history clips – I had such a wonderful but difficult time selecting them. There are many treasures in these interviews and it was hard to only pick ten. We hope that you will explore the interviews more on your own here. In additional to being a joy to conduct and to listen too, these interviews help document the past as well as to enrich our classes, research, and annual exhibits in the Albert H. Nahmad Panama Canal Gallery. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in doing an oral history, ehbemis@ufl.edu.
Now, on to the finale…
Since it is the last week I let myself pick two clips – one is Jeanne Sperry and the other is Bob Zumbado. They both talk about Christmas traditions and “chicanery” as Bob puts it.
“Christmas doesn’t end for the children of the Canal Zone until the last tree goes up in flames.” Panama Canal Review, February 1955, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/uf00097366/00133 Interview with Jeanne Sperry, 2021, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/aa00087673/00001 Interview with Bob Zumbado, 2011, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/aa00013369/00001 The goal is to raise $10,000 during the ten weeks to support the PCMC oral history program. If you are interested in donating, please visit https://pcmc.uflib.ufl.edu/oralhistory/ or contact John Nemmers, jnemmers@ufl.edu, (352) 273-2766. View our Celebrating Ten Years Booklet. Contact Betsy Bemis, ehbemis@ufl.edu, if you are interested in doing an oral history interview.
