The Panama Canal Opens for Business

Although a self-propelled crane boat made the first passage of the 50-mile waterway  on January 7^th, and the ocean steamer, SS Ancon, made the trip on August 3^rd, today marks the 95^th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal.

	How Wall Street Created a Nation by Ovidio Diaz Espino. A native of Panama, Espino, describes the origins of the Panama Canal, detailing the decades of speculation, fraud, and conspiracy that continue to influence international relations in the region. The roles of Theodore Roosevelt, the French Panama Canal Company, and Wall Street are highlighted, with clear attention to their immediate motives–profit and power.
	The Path Between the Seas by David G. McCullough The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women involved in the struggle to construct an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures.
	The Sydney B. Williamson Papers. Sydney Bacon Williamson, Class of 1884, served as Division Engineer for the Pacific Division of the Panama Canal from 1907 to 1914. The bulk of the collection documents Williamson’s engineering assignments in Panama, South America, and the United States, and his service on the Interoceanic Canal Board. On top of biographical information, project details and correspondences there’s also some fantastic photos.
	Cadiz to Cathay by Miles P. DuVal A detailed history of the diplomatic issues relating to the construction of the Panama Canal including the proposal and eventual rejection of locating the canal in Nicaragua.

Information about the opening of the Panama Canal is from the 2009 edition of Chase’s Calendar of Events.

Tagged as: alumni, Archives, Books, engineering, history, panama canal, politics, south america