Balboa High School was a public high school in the former Canal Zone on the isthmus of Panama. It was a part of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
Contents
Balboa High School was a public high school in the former Canal Zone on the isthmus of Panama. It was a part of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
The history of Balboa High School is intimately bound to the history of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone. Given the temporary nature of the enterprise, public secondary education for white, US employees' children was initially modest and fluid. During the first construction years, American students from Pacific-area towns would commute to a high school in the Atlantic port of Cristobal [ citation needed ] (and later, Gatun [1] ) until separate high school facilities were made available for both areas. It was only after the completion of the Canal that a permanent school system was created and permanent buildings were erected to house Canal Zone secondary schools.
Construction of the first permanent building to house a high school in Balboa was completed in 1917. What came to be Balboa High School was not started until 1942 and completed through additions in 1948, 1949, 1963 and 1969. Prior to that, the high school was located in part of Bldg. 710, known for most of its history as Balboa Elementary School and in a temporary wooden building for several years. Starting in 1966, a junior high school was opened in Curundu to accommodate the overcrowding at Diablo Junior High School.
For most of the Canal Zone's history, Balboa High School's rival was the Atlantic-side Cristobal High School (later Cristobal Junior-Senior High School). Balboa High School had two mascots. The "Red Machine" for students with last names ending in A through K had red and white as the team colors. Students with last names ending in L through Z had the Bulldog as a mascot and their team colors were light blue and white. The Balboa High School Varsity football team mainly played against Cristobal High School and the Canal Zone Junior College. Two other high schools in the Canal Zone, Paraiso High School and Rainbow City High School, were segregated for dependents of the Canal Zone's Afro-Antillean and South Asian employees. Desegregation of these schools began in 1975 and was completed in 1979, at the same time as the Canal Zone's abolition.
Balboa High School operated a popular Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program in which a majority of male students participated. Junior ROTC was initiated in the Fall school term of 1948, [2] and continued throughout the remainder of the school's history. A shooting range was maintained in the school's basement, and every year the Balboa High School cadets competed against Cristobal High School in a Field Day competition. [3]
In January 1964, Balboa High School was the scene of a controversial confrontation between high school students from Panama's Instituto Nacional marched from Panama City to Balboa High School. They tried to lower the American flag and raise the Panamanian flag. Balboa High School students and parents objected. The events, known in Panama as Martyrs' Day and in the U.S. as 1964 Panama Canal riots, started after a Panamanian flag was torn during conflict between Panamanian students and Canal Zone Police officers, over the right of the Panamanian flag to be flown. There are conflicting claims about how the flag was torn. There are also claims that the CIA had fomented the whole situation. (ref. Life magazine)
The ensuing violent reaction by Panamanians at the border with the Canal Zone when news of the torn flag reached Panama City, resulted in an overwhelmed Canal Zone Police calling for support from U.S. Army units that became involved in suppressing the violence, and after three days of fighting, about 21 Panamanians and 4 U.S. soldiers were killed. The incident is considered to be a significant factor in the U.S. decision to transfer control of the Canal Zone to Panama through the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
With the abolition of the Canal Zone government in 1979, Balboa High School, like the rest of the Canal Zone Schools system, fell under the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Over the next two decades, the population of American Canal Zone dependents decreased as the population of the Canal Zone itself changed. Aside from thousands of American dependents of the Panama Canal Company (later Panama Canal Commission), Canal Zone Government and U.S. armed forces, Balboa High School was also the Alma Mater of many of Panama's business and political elite.
During the December 1989 "Operation Just Cause," which removed General Manuel Noriega from power and ended Panama's 21-year military dictatorship, the premises of the Balboa High School were temporarily used by the US Armed Forces to house civilians displaced from Panama City's El Chorrillo neighborhood by the fires resulting from the attack on the Panamanian Defense Forces' headquarters.
Balboa High School closed in 1999 in anticipation of the handover of the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama, the removal of final U.S. forces from the isthmus and the closure of the DoDDS Panama. Over the years thousands of Americans and Panamanians graduated from Balboa High School. They included Guillermo Ford, vice president of Panama and Gustavo A. Mellander, noted historian and university administrator. The BHS campus today is used as part of the offices of the Panama Canal Authority (and includes some of the offices of Human Resources, Health Services, etc.). The old Balboa High School gym is now used for the Panama Canal Authority's "Pacific-side" "Center for Worker-&-Employee Health-&-Wellness" (despite the name, it is used as a gym, with some weight-lifting and treadmill facilities, as well as a sauna and racketball court, and a track-and-field with a track made of gravel). The gym, sauna, racketball court, track, and field (which was used by Balboa High School, as well as used as the field for weekly Friday football games and tryouts, and cheerleading meets and tryouts) are all leftovers of the Panama Canal Zone days, as well as the Balboa High School days.
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half of the country's over 4 million inhabitants.
The history of Panama includes the history of the Isthmus of Panama prior to European colonization.
The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, cutting across the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts.
The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was a treaty signed on November 18, 1903, by the United States and Panama, which established the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal. It was named after its two primary negotiators, Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla, the French diplomatic representative of Panama, and United States Secretary of State John Hay.
The Panama Canal Zone, also simply known as the Canal Zone, was a concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending five miles (8 km) on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón. Its capital was Balboa.
Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. It was the former capital of the Panama Canal Zone under American administration.
The Isthmus of Panama is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal. Like many isthmuses, it is a location of great geopolitical and strategic importance.
Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón was the President of Panama in 1949 and from 1960 to 1964. He belonged to the Liberal Party.
Ancón is a corregimiento in Panamá District, Panamá Province, Panama with a population of 29,761 as of 2010. Its population as of 1990 was 11,518; its population as of 2000 was 11,169. It is sometimes considered a suburb or small town within Panama City, northeast of the limits of the town of Balboa. Ancon Hill is also the name of a large hill that overlooks Panama City and once served as a form of protection from pirates and sea invasion. The township was originally located around this hill, and was created to house employees of the Panama Canal during its construction. As part of the construction effort, the historic Gorgas Army Hospital was founded and built on the hillside. The first ship to officially transit the canal, SS Ancon, was named after the district. The community continued to serve as housing for employees of the Panama Canal Company until 1980, when parts of it began to be turned over to the Panamanian government under the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties. Modern-day Ancón is a corregimiento of Panama City, serving mainly as a residential area. The Gorgas Army Hospital building is now the Panamanian Oncology Hospital, primarily used for cancer research. The area also houses Panama's Supreme Court, just a few feet away from the Gorgas Army Hospital building, and several Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute buildings for research into tropical biology. Ancón is also a parish (parroquia) of the District of Panama, located in the Panama Canal adjacent area.
Martyrs' Day is a Panamanian day of national mourning which commemorates the January 9, 1964 anti-American riots over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone. The riot started after a Panamanian flag was torn and students were killed during a conflict with Canal Zone Police officers and Canal Zone residents. It is also known as the Flag Incident or Flag Protests.
Howard Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Panama. It discontinued military operations on 1 November 1999 as a result of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which specified that US military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zone be closed and the facilities be turned over to the Panamanian government.
The Panama Canal fence is a term used for a variety of barriers built by the United States in the Panama Canal Zone to control movement in the zone for a variety of enforcement purposes. The Canal Zone, primarily consisting of the Panama Canal, a strip of land running from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean that was administered by the United States to various degrees until 1999. The fence was occasionally dubbed a “fence of shame” and "another Berlin Wall” by those opposed to continued United States presence and control of the Canal Zone.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone is a subject that covers the postal system, postage stamps used and mail sent to and from the Panama Canal Zone from 1904 up until October 1978, after the United States relinquished its authority of the Zone in compliance with the treaty it reached with Panama.
Gamboa is a small town in corregimiento of Cristóbal in the Colón Province, Panama close to the Panama Canal and the Chagres River. It was one of a handful of permanent Canal Zone townships, built to house employees of the Panama Canal and their dependents. The name Gamboa is the name of a tree of the quince family.
Fort Clayton was a United States Army base in the former Panama Canal Zone, later part of the Republic of Panama.
Cristóbal is a port town and corregimiento in Colón District, Colón Province, Panama. The corregimiento has a population of 49,422 as of 2010. The town is located on the western edge of Manzanillo Island, on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. Cristóbal Colón is the Spanish translation for Christopher Columbus, the Genovese explorer for whom these places were named.
Panama is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America.
Curundú is a corregimiento within Panama City, in Panamá District, Panamá Province, Panama with a population of 16,361 as of 2010. Its population as of 1990 was 17,933; its population as of 2000 was 19,019.
Tivoli Hotel in Ancón district of Panama City, Republic of Panama, was a historic hotel. US president and Mrs. Teddy Roosevelt were considered the first guests to stay at the Tivoli on November 15, 1906. The grand hotel later served many dignitaries and celebrities, from royalty to film stars, from presidents to sports heroes for years. The Tivoli served luncheon to several hundred passengers every time a cruise ship passed by Panama Canal. After being converted, later, to The Tivoli Guest House,it was officially closed on April 15, 1971. According to Panama Canal Museum the grand Tivoli Hotel served as the centerpiece of Canal Zone society. The hotel derived its name from the name of the hill; "Tivoli hill" on which it was built. This hotel was located in Ancón on the southern slope of Ancon Hill overlooking the Bay of Panama. Tivoli hill was named after the famous hill in Rome, Italy.
Naval Base Panama Canal Zone refers to a number of United States Navy bases used during World War II to both protect the Panama Canal and the key shipping lanes around the Panama Canal Zone. Bases were built and operated on the Atlantic Ocean side and the Pacific Ocean side. The main Naval Base at the Panama Canal was the Naval Station Coco Solo that had been in operation since 1918.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
