The Panadería, La Central, Coiba Island

Summary

The Panadería, La Central, Coiba Island on January 13, 1956. Roads in a grassy field lead to rows of buildings with metal or grass roofs. An unidentified person walks away from the camera on the road on the right side of the image. Power lines run along the right side of that same road. There are palm and other trees on the right side of the image. The front most building has a metal extended roof, creating a covered outdoor area.

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

• The image was taken by Smithsonian Secretary and ornithologist Alexander Wetmore while on a scientific expedition in Panama and Coiba Island. Wetmore Negative Number 6053.
• From 1919 to 1991, Coiba Island was a penal colony. Fear of the prison and its inmates deterred visitors from the island. As such, about 80% of the natural areas on the island remain undisturbed. The island is also host to many endemic species. Both of these factors made the island ideal for Wetmore's scientific expedition. The officers and convicts pictured in Wetmore's images from the expedition were part of the penal colony. Some even assisted the expedition through labor. Today, the island is no longer a penal colony. Instead, it is one of 38 islands composing Coiba National Park, a World Heritage Site.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Alexander Wetmore Papers, Record Unit 7006, Box: 183, Folder Album: Panama and Coiba, 1956

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

January 13, 1956

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Architecture
• Electric power
• School field trips
• Islands
• Palm trees
• Penal colonies
• Power transmission
• Buildings--Panama
• Field trips
• Panamanians

Place

• Panama
• Coiba Island (Panama)

Form/Genre

• Photographic print
• Exterior

ID Number

SIA2009-4277 or Wetmore Negative Number 6053

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and white; Size: 4.75w x 4.5h; Type of Image: Exterior; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

View Full Record