Silver Role

In 1940, the Great Fire of Colón ravaged the city outside the Canal Zone where many West Indians set roots after Canal construction. One-third of the residents were displaced to U.S. military organized tent cities. Despite the devastation to their community, West Indians had an active role in bettering Panama and the Canal Zone during WWII. They organized the Canal Zone Teachers Association, adding grade levels to schools and adult night classes in the Republic of Panama and Canal Zone. They formed the Silver Employees Volunteer Committee which sponsored patriotic programs and led the way for future Panamanians to join the U.S. Armed Forces.

Cecil Haynes, a Canal employee for over 70 years, notes that the influx of African American service men coming to the Zone supported efforts of unionizing for pay equality of non-American workers, previously paid in silver. Like the “Patriette” dances, Black women organized entertainment for the Black service men as the Silver City Commissary Girls.