Group of Convicts, Coiba Island

ID: SIA2009-4281 or Wetmore Negative Number 6081

Creator: Wetmore, Alexander 1886-

Form/Genre: Photographic print

Date: January 23, 1956

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

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Summary

A group of three convicts on a boat near Coiba Island on January 23, 1956. One convict is standing at the rear of the boat, holding a long pole, while the other two are seated.

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 6081.
  • 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 23, 1956

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Boats and boating
  • School field trips
  • Rivers
  • Islands
  • Penal colonies
  • Panamanians
  • Field trips

Place

  • Panama
  • Coiba Island (Panama)

Form/Genre

  • Photographic print
  • Group, candid

ID Number

SIA2009-4281 or Wetmore Negative Number 6081

Physical description

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

Full Record

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