We are thrilled to introduce you to a new member of the UF team: Isabella Loya.

Isabella has been working with the Panama Canal Museum Collection since August this year, but before that she worked as a student assistant in our Latin American & Caribbean Collection. Isabella is the person responsible for scanning so many amazing treasures and making them available online. Isabella position is fully funded by the generosity of our supporters, so thanks to everyone who has contributed in the past couple of years. And now we’ll let Isabella tell you a bit more about herself and her interests. Thanks!

Hello all!  

My name is Isabella Loya and I am the new Imaging Assistant for the Panama Canal Museum Collection. I have been working at the George A. Smathers Libraries system since I began my undergraduate degree at UF. I am currently pursuing two master’s degrees here at UF in Museum Studies and Latin American Studies.  

I am originally from Miami, which allowed me to grow around so many different cultures. This further deepened my respect for them and the need to preserve them. I hope that the work I do will uplift and raise awareness for the preservation of these varying cultures. 

I am passionate about cultural preservation and making this collection available for public access. This job aligns with what I want to do in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums field. I hope that the work being done on this collection will serve as many people as possible. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.  

We are thrilled to be welcoming two new student assistants working on special projects with the collection involving digitization, description of objects, creating videos, and other activities. We want to give them an opportunity to introduce themselves to everyone:

Hi! My name is Caroline Davis and am a second-year graduate student in Museum Studies! I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended Flagler College in St. Augustine studying Art History for my undergraduate work. I am interested in archival studies and collections management, especially oral history methods.

I have been working in the Smathers Libraries’ Special & Area Studies Collections for almost a year in various projects. Currently, I am working with the PCMC on processing and digitizing collections related to the Balboa High School.

Hello! My name is Azariah Rodriguez and I am a first-year graduate student in the Museum Studies program. For the next few months, I will be working with the Panama Canal Museum Collection here at Smathers Library to curate stories from everyday life in the Canal Zone. My first projects since starting has been finding what I can on the popular Cayuco Race and Canal construction equipment.

I am very excited to continue working with this amazing collection!

Not many people can say that they had a comic strip character based on them, but Margaret Boonstra was one of those people.

Margaret Beshore, as she was named at the time, served as Vice Consul for the U.S. Department of State in Panama from 1961-1963. Her mother, Ellen Beshore, was a close friend of Dale Messick, the creator of the popular and long-running comic strip, Brenda Starr, Reporter. In 1963, Ellen Beshore and Dale Messick visited Margaret in Panama and toured the Canal Zone. Subsequently, Messick produced several strips over a few months about Brenda Starr’s trip to Panama and her interactions with a Vice Consul named “Maggie Shore”.

In November 2021, Margaret loaned her original copies of the comic strip and her personal photos so that we could scan them for the collection. Sadly, Margaret passed away this month here in Gainesville, Florida, so we are sharing a selection of the images to spotlight her service with the Embassy and her role in the comic strip.

Margaret joined the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer and started in the position of Vice Consul in Panama in January 1961. She oversaw immigration visas and worked closely with West Indian and Cuban people who were seeking to immigrate to the U.S. Margaret made the most of her time in Panama by exploring the region and even taking part in an amphibious landing exercise and a cross-country trek with the U.S. Army Jungle Warfare Training Center (among the first group of women to do so through the Center). She also met her future husband while in Panama: Clarence Boonstra was political adviser to U.S. Southern Command at the time, and later served as Ambassador to Costa Rica in the late 1960s.

Did you know or work with Margaret during her time in Panama and the Canal Zone? Did you take part in the Jungle Warfare Training Center exercise with her? Did she help you with your immigration process? Did you read about “Maggie Shore” in Brenda Starr, Reporter? Do you know of other comic strips featuring characters based on people from Panama and the Canal Zone? We would love to get your comments.

We want to highlight a generous donation by Randy and Joella Deakins of three family time capsules to the Panama Canal Museum Collection. The list of contents includes documents, photographs, letters, a scrapbook, and other items documenting the Deakins family history in Panama and the Canal Zone, beginning in 1927. These will be kept in our environmentally controlled storage facility, safe from any temptations to sneak a peek before time is up. Set to be opened in the year 2106, they are sure to bring delight to those lucky enough to witness it.

Randy and Joella also sat down with us for an oral history interview earlier this year at the Panama Canal Society Reunion in Orlando, FL. Their interview is currently being transcribed, and will be available online once it is processed. Please check out the Oral History Program on our website (https://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohpcm) and reach out to us if you are interested in participating.

Thank you to Randy and Joella and to all our wonderful donors! Keep them coming!

In honor of the first International Day for People of African Descent, we celebrate the extraordinary contributions of the thousands of West Indian workers and others of African descent who have participated in the construction, maintenance, defense, and operation of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone. Between 55,000-100,000 West Indians went to Panama during in the 19th and early 20th century, and they were the largest group employed on the construction of the Canal. Although some people returned to the countries they had left, many stayed in Panama to create homes and families. They became an integral part of the work forces and communities in Panama and the Canal Zone. Today is a day to highlight the important role they played in this incredible history.

To learn more about the International Day for People of African Descent visit the United Nations website page: https://www.un.org/en/observances/african-descent-day

Golf was a part of the Canal Zone from very early on as you can see in this photo from the 1925 Cristobal High School Yearbook. Playing golf right next to Gatun Locks looks like an incredibly unique experience. So does the daredevil player’s path at Miraflores Locks seen in Life Magazine.

This golf course “hazard” is exclusive to the Canal Zone. Did you ever walk across the lock gates to play golf?

For the more faint of heart there were many other golf courses to choose from. Here are a few others described in the Canal Zone Government Civil Affairs Bureau 1973 booklet “Recreation in Panama”, pictured in the Panama Canal Review, and remembered through a score card.

What was your favorite course? Which course was the most difficult? Which course was the most picturesque?

Although Panama is without the usual sights and sounds of Carnival this year because of the pandemic, these photos showcase the spectacular excitement that the events have provided for viewers and participants alike with parades, floats, queens, dancing, and costumes. Did you ever participate in a Carnival parade? Did you have a favorite float or group? What were your favorite Carnival traditions?

Just after midnight on January 27, 1855, the final spike for the Panama Railroad line was driven at Culebra, which was known as Summit at the time because it was located at the summit of the Continental Divide. The completed railroad was single-track and stretched for about 47 miles (76 km) between Panama City and Aspinwall (later named Colón). The following day, on January 28, a train crossed the Isthmus for the first time.

With the completion of the 5-year construction project, the Panama Railroad became the first transcontinental railroad in the Americas. In 1955, the centennial of the opening of the railroad was celebrated in the Canal Zone with a special commemorative trip.

Thanks to Joe Wood for sharing this interesting video with the PCMC team!

The video description reads, “This publication covers 150 historical photos (Then), in black and white, from 1904 to 1941 and include their original titles. The images recall the lifestyle of some villages and sites on the Pacific side of the Canal Zone such as Albrook, Ancon, Balboa, Balboa Heights, Clayton, Corozal, Diablo, Fort Amador, Gamboa, La Boca, Madden, Miraflores, Paraiso, Pedro Miguel and Summit. All current (Now) color photographs were taken this year (2016).”

Video posted to YouTube by Jaime Massot