Insurance on the Isthmus

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.

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).

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.

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.