Monthly Archives: December 2007

Silver Roll Continues Long After the Inauguration of the Panama Canal

Posted on December 28, 2007 by Roberto Reid | 3 Comments

Here we see the official inaugural voyage
on the Panama Canal made by the ‘Ancon’ in 1914
Image thanks to the BBC Panama Canal Gallery

The Silver Roll labor force on the US government’s Canal Zone in Panama and the canal construction projects continued long after the canal inauguration in 1914, ending the CanalConstruction Period and marking the beginning of World War I. Although the canal operating period quietly started right after the waterworks were inaugurated the threat of mud slides and total blockage of all passage of ships would continue to hover over the “Big Ditch” for a long time afterwards. The era a little before and after 1914 would become a bench mark for a lifestyle for those Blacks who constituted the bulk of the work force. Continue reading →

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Posted in Panama Canal, Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged Gold-and-Silver-Roll-System, isolation, Jamaicans, panama-canal-inauguration-of-1914, Silver-Only, skilled laborers, World-War-I

Christmas Time in the “Black” Canal Zone

Posted on December 25, 2007 by Roberto Reid | 2 Comments

Holiday Gingerbread Cookies
Merry Christmas to you all and may your holidays be blessed and “sweet!”

The traditional Christmas feast would eventually become an Americanized holiday for Westindian Black families living on the Canal Zone. The Christmas ham, turkey, cranberry sauce, eggnog, and all the other traditional fixings for the eagerly awaited celebration would be found in the commissary stores. Everything necessary to celebrate this yearly holiday from work and school was bought at the commissary with the familiar commissary coupon book and many families rejoiced at the thought of providing their holiday table with the best of fare from the United States. Continue reading →

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Posted in Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged Christmas-in-the-Black-Canal-Zone, Commissary, coupon-book

The Evolution of the Silver Townships 1909- 1920

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Roberto Reid | 1 Comment

Images: Top: Postcard Photo of an early (1910) "Tourist Train" Middle: A West Indian Washerwoman washing clothes at a stream while some carefree white men converse nearby. Bottom: An aerial view of a Gatun Silver Town

By 1909 an invisible protective net had been set up over the area of Central America during which time the ongoing ideological struggles carried over from the 1850′s between those who advocated for maintaining some form of slavery in modern society and those who advocated succumbing to the new ideals of “Communism,” continued to unfold. The protective scheme of the U.S. operatives in their new colony was calculated not to permit those “outside forces” to impact the Panama Canal Zone. Continue reading →

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Posted in West Indian Panamanians

Tagged Banana-empire, Bocas del Toro, discriminatory-rules-and-regulations, silver-employee-personnel-office, silver-townships

“Small Island, Go Back Where You Come From!”

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Roberto Reid | 2 Comments

The image is a post card rendition of a
West Indian woman cake vendor
selling her wares in San Felipe. Notice the small price list
under the screen mesh that protects her offerings.
Thanks to www.czimages.com

As time went by the privileged white American citizens of the Canal Zone would become dependent on Black West Indians and, in general, Black American workers and others who came to their rescue as coolie labor much before the area had reached such advanced stages of colonization in the country of Panama. Employment would become so abundant that a youngster of 15 years had only to decide not to attend school any more and just seek out gangs of men at work. That minor would, then, only need to approach whomever was the foreman saying, “Need any workers, boss?” And he would be instantly hired on the spot. Continue reading →

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Posted in Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged Panamanian-Westindian-community, rivalries, small-island, West Indian women

Culebra Cut – Part III

Posted on December 14, 2007 by Roberto Reid | 2 Comments

Images: Top: Early slide in Culebra
Middle: Another early slide covering train track
Bottom: Culebra Cut today

The totally unforeseen nature of the approximately 22 “slides” that plagued the construction of the Panama Canal, and in particular the operations in Culebra Cut, was what made them such a deadly and thoroughly exacerbating feature of the canal’s creation. The slides were also the single most convincing factor in determining that a sea level canal would never be possible in Panama. Continue reading →

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Posted in Panama Canal, Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged Cucaracha-Slide, Culebra-Cut, death tolls on the Panama Canal, Fanny-Reid, slides

Culebra Cut – Part II

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Roberto Reid | 2 Comments

A line of "powder men" carrying 50 lb. boxes of dynamite on their heads; all West Indian.

Images: Top- a West Indian dynamite crew in Culebra Cut
Bottom- a dynamite “magazine” or storage unit.

The amount of dirt excavated at Panama has been calculated in many different ways. Some engineers have measured it by the number of dirt cars that carried the soil, rock and other debris out of the construction area. Generally, it has been said that an entire train of dirt cars would be able to circle the world four times at the Equator if we were to understand the massive excavation undertaking. Continue reading →

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Posted in Panama Canal, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged Culebra-Cut, Cuts, death tolls on the Panama Canal, dynamite, dynamite-ships, premature-explosions, slides