An oral interview with Innis Rex references a “Mr. French,” as one of Gamboa’s leaders; he is likely referring to Joseph French. Both the interviewer and Mr. Innis explain that living in Gamboa was like being part of one big family where everyone looked after each other. The interviewer interjects to say, “that in a sense we were all children to almost everybody, all the big people. I mean, we had our direct parents, we might have had our biological parents, but we had a sense of caring and parenthood throughout the community.” This statement again reinforces the idea that Gamboa was an incredibly tight knit community and that Mr. French was one of its prominent leaders. 

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When asked about what it was like to move to Gamboa from Paraiso, Gilling replied “we were right in the middle of the jungle”. The interviewer replied “Middle of the jungle?” to which Gilling said “But, it was made out like a city. Remember? We didn’t have to worry about anything. We had the [inaudible]. We got the clubhouse, we got the ship, we got the school.” The interviewer said “So it was a good place to live?” and Gilling said “Exactly. Everything was perfect.” This shows how important schools and the social aspect of living in Gamboa were, and both of these things are areas that Mr. French had an impact on as a teacher and a coach.
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We know that Mr. French worked as a firefighter for at least a while (although the length of his firefighting career remains unknown to us), so this interview is helpful in furthering our understanding of what Mr. French’s experience was probably like during his time serving the Fire Department and what struggles he likely faced while working there. Moreover, Mr. Gittens’ explanation of what it was like living in Silver City provides us broader insight into the community atmosphere.

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“I always thought, if you can get a job, take a job. I was lucky enough that I got a job at the Fire Department and that was like a success story.” Talking about what the job was like, he said “They’re gonna make it tough for you. The white man is not going to be happy about you taking jobs from the white man. That’s the white chief telling all this. He says, they’re going to call you n*, they’re going to call you son of a bitch, they’re going to call you asshole, call you all this stuff. He says that is allowed by our standards. The standard is to belittle the black man. If you can put up with that, take the job. We took it, we put up with all that stuff. And the white people were a little taken aback because they figured black people, what they hell did they know, you know? But then when there were fires, we performed better than the white man himself. And the thing about a white man is that when they go to fire, they walk away from it. And then the quartermaster, what they used to call the quartermaster. How would you call it now, in America? Clean up crew. They were sent a crew to clean up. The white fireman put out a fire and they’re done. But with us, when we put out a fire, we were the clean-up. [Inaudible]. And we did a better job than the guys with the quartermaster. White people began to appreciate us, and they started putting in a good word for us.”

“When I came up in my—during teenage years, I played everything. Basketball, baseball,
track and field, softball. The only thing that I never did participate in was soccer. Because I really didn’t
know that soccer was a game that has these techniques. I thought you just kick the ball and run down
and kick the bill. I didn’t understand that game – kick the ball, running behind, and kicking, and so on.
Baseball was my love. That was my love, baseball. Baseball, see? Because I remember – my team from
the major league, the Detroit Tigers – I remember when I retired, it brought tears to my eyes when they
presented me a large eight-by-ten photo with the then-manager of the Detroit Tigers, Sparky Anderson.
They told him about me, I’m an ardent Detroit fan, and he sent me a big autographed photograph and
wished me well on my retirement, so on and so on, some time ago. And so, but I remember at my
retirement, when they handed me the keys, I couldn’t help it, I just broke into tears.”

This interview emphasizes the influence that baseball had on the community of Gamboa, and thus how important Mr. French’s impact was on the community. 

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Mr. Peterkin named many memorable players, demonstrating how decades later sports continues to be an important part of his memory of Gamboa.

“Gamboa was a unique, a very unique community. In the sense that everybody—people like a family. One family, it was just one family. Like I said, you fight today and tomorrow you’re shaking hands. You’re hugging and kissing and sitting and drinking beer, and eating an ice cream. Gamboa was so unique. All the Canal Zone holidays, the picnics were held in Gamboa. Every one. Because Gamboa had everything in one place.”

This interview is paramount in our understanding of how important baseball was to those living in the community and thus how Mr. French impacted the community of Gamboa, and more specifically, the sports community. Mr. French’s success in teaching young athletes who went on to become professionals is reflective of his incredibly impressive coaching abilities. Mr. Peterkin was also a fireman, which allows us to have a better idea of what Mr. French’s time as a firefighter might have been like.

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Ms. Perryman talks about how everyone acted as family to each other and looked after others’ children, recounting specific anecdotes about conflict resolution, housing, and difficulties of having family working in the Canal Zone.

“I like Gamboa. It was—to me it was like a home…A home with a home. Because the neighbors look out for you and your kids. They don’t think that their kid’s better than that and, I mean, used to go fighting with them, but still they love each other.”

Ms. Perryman’s stories about the Gamboa community provides broad insight into what Mr. French’s impact may have been like and how this impact lives on in his legacy.

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“I would say we had one of the best close communities there. People encouraged you, man. People – they took advantage of the opportunity that we were – we had a proud community, let’s face it. Our parents and our forefathers were hard working, and they were – The kids, we grew up with a lot of respect for our family. I would think, to me, the heritage and respect and work ethic and, I would tend to think, encouragement. I would think Panama – Gamboa – was a town of family, decency, and caring, and people were close-knit. I would think that is one of the things we can say. We weren’t neglected.”

In many of the comments on Mr. French’s photos and community maps posted by the Gamboa Reunion Group, it is said in some way or another that for parents in Gamboa, it took this entire village to raise their children. Stories like that of Mr. Wade amplifies our understanding of the culture, dynamic, and community values of Gamboa. 

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Later in this interview, Mrs. Sprauve directly speaks about Mr. French and the impact that he had on the community, particularly youth sports. She says, “I would say [who] helped keep us off the streets was Mr. French with his involvement…of every sport. Every sport come in and teams were formed to keep us busy, like it or not, you know. That gym was never closed… He worked it eight hours and he stayed there. He formed four teams – Front Square, Church Square, Dust Bowl, and Parallel, volleyball teams. And we had the volleyball team going and get the trophy—we got the trophy for [inaudible], you know, you get
something like that.” Mr. Sprauve says Mr. French “dedicated his whole life.”

This statement reinforces the fact that Mr. French offered community guidance to the youth. He steered them in directions that followed their talents and dreams. 

Without men like Joseph French, children like Leatha and Louis Sprauve may have had a different path in their lives. Testimonials like hers continue to show the influence that French had over the children in Gamboa and the Canal Zones to receive such high praise and admiration from his community.

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