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Canal Zone Cemeteries
We were reminded of the important place that the cemeteries hold in the history of Panama and the Canal Zone by the annual clean-up of the Panamanian cemeteries, supported by CGM Cemetery Preservation Foundation (https://www.cgmcemeteryfoundation.org/) and traditionally held on November 2nd. The PCMC holds several photographs of Canal Zone cemeteries, taken throughout the twentieth century. Help us enhance the collection by describing your memories about the cemeteries or by filling in missing information about the photographs below.
Corozal Cemetery, American side, 1993. 
Corozal Cemetery, Panamanian side, 1993. 
Mt. Hope Cemetery, date unknown. 
“View looking North from top of Ancon Hill, showing Axis of Canal – September 29, 1912.” Photo by Ernest Hallen showing an old cemetery on the right, possibly the Ancon Cemetery from the French era, which was moved in order to build the Administration Building. 
Photo from the Corozal, Gatun, Mt. Hope Cemetery Preservation Foundation (CGM)’s annual cemetery clean-up day, 2020. The CGM is a non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining, restoring, and preserving the gravesites of people of Panamanian and West Indian descent in the former Canal Zone. -
Voting in the Canal Zone
Today is Election Day and a chance to look back at the history of voting in the Canal Zone. Printed in the November 1967 issue of the Panama Canal Review, the caption of this photograph reads:
“Campaigning was spirited at the Culebra Post Office in 1912 during mock elections. Because U.S.-citizen residents of the Canal Zone could not vote in national elections at that time, mock elections were held a few weeks before elections in the United States as ‘manifestations of political desire for expression,’ according to the ‘Canal Record.’ The tickets usually bore nominations for national and municipal offices and at least one village included on its ticket a nomination for the position of ‘town grouch.’”
What do you know about the history of voting in the Canal Zone? When were U.S. citizens in the Canal Zone able to vote in national elections and what was the process for doing so? If you voted in the Canal Zone, where did you vote and what do you remember about the experience?
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Sports in the Zone
The PCMC holds a large number of photographs of sports played in the Canal Zone. What sports did you play in the Zone? What was unique about sports in the Canal Zone? Which sports were the most popular or most competitive?
As always, please comment if you have any additional information about the photographs below.
A basketball game between a Canal Zone Team and possibly a Central American Team, circa 1920s. 
Latin American Schools tennis players, year unknown. 
Balboa High School swim team, year unknown. -
Canal Zone Shopping
It’s already October, which means holiday season shopping is creeping up again. What do you remember about shopping in the Canal Zone? What types of things did you buy in the commissaries and what was only available outside of the Zone? Did you take trips to Panama to shop? Did you order items from the United States? Where did you go for the most affordable items? The highest quality?
Three photographs of the U.S. Army Officers’ Wives Club shopping tour -
Stevenson v. Castles
In honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing last week, the PCMC would like to acknowledge her impact on the Canal Zone. In 1973, PCC budget analyst June Stevenson took the Panama Canal Company to court due to unequal employee benefits for women and men. Federally employed Canal Zone women whose spouses were privately employed were denied benefits such as eligibility for housing and free schooling for their children. Ruth Bader Ginsburg served as Stevenson’s attorney and won the case in 1978.
Stevenson’s daughter, Lori Snow, summarizes:
“June A. Stevenson worked originally with a local lawyer who advised her to seek council from the courts of New Orleans once she encountered major pushback from the administrators of the Panama Canal. It was even suggested that my Mom divorce my Dad so she could drop the case and get all the privileges. But through my parents’ efforts, they persevered and sought the council of a New Orleans Lawyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The rest, as you now know, is history. Following the battle to win the original case, June went on to sue for years of paying tuition, rents in Panama and all other benefits lost, she went on to win the case. There are still women that benefited alive to share their success.”
What do you remember about Stevenson v. Castles or the subsequent effects of the case?
June Stevenson. Photo provided by Lori Snow. 
Cover of Stevenson v. Castles court document. 
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2016 Supreme Court of the United States portrait. You May Also Like
The Art of PCMC: John Haines
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La Boca Normal Training School
In a recent oral history interview conducted by Pan Caribbean Sankofa, Inc. in collaboration with the PCMC, an interview participant recalled her experiences attending La Boca Normal Training School after high school to train as a teacher. She would become a second-grade teacher and, later, a school crossing guard in the community.
What do you remember about La Boca Normal Training School or other schools in La Boca?
La Boca Normal Training School yearbook, The Thinker, 1944, pgs. 79-82
