From Survey to Canal: Photographs of the Isthmus of Panama

November 20, 2010–May 1, 2011
Second floor

Explore the most immense engineering project of the 20th century through a selection of photographs drawn from the Carter’s permanent collection as well as the National Archives and Records Administration, and the United States Military Academy. These images, which together examine the key moments in the creation of the Panama Canal, were made by North Americans and French entrepreneurs during three distinct stages of progress on the canal: initial naval exploration in the early 1870s, private French-led construction in the 1880s, and final construction under American military leadership between 1907 and 1914. Together this exhibition offers glimpses into the extraordinary scale and human expense of the canal project that transformed the trade route between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Installation Photos

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