Quarters for Laborers in Cristobal
ca. 1905
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
During the building of the Panama Canal, worker housing was segregated and decidedly unequal. "Colored" laborers (Panamanians, African American and people from the Caribbean, East Indians, and Chinese) lived in unscreened quarters along unpaved, rutted roads. Over time, some improvements were made in worker housing, notably for African Americans who constituted a special category of "silver" employees. However, because of the increased exposure of mosquitoes, thousands of ordinary workers contracted malaria. Many also worked dangerous jobs, digging in landslide-prone Culebra Cut and working with explosives, so that they were four times as likely to die as white laborers.
The original caption for this photograph uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people ("Quarters for Negro Laborers – Cristobal"), which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.
The original caption for this photograph uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people ("Quarters for Negro Laborers – Cristobal"), which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Panama Canal.
National Archives Identifier: 6120311
Full Citation: Photograph 185-G-1442; Quarters for Laborers in Cristobal; ca. 1905; Records of the Panama Canal, Record Group 185; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/quarters-laborers-cristobal, April 23, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.