The Claybourn photograph collection contains 8,276 black and white photographs of the work done to build the Panama Canal, and its locks and infrastructure, under the jurisdiction of the United States government between 1907 and 1947. The images capture the excavation and dredging of the Isthmus of Panama and the equipment used to accomplish these tasks; the construction of the locks; the development of the cities of Colón, Balboa and Gamboa; dignitaries, administrators, politicians, and visitors such as Samuel Gompers (Volume 12); infrastructure designed to improve the wuality of life; and events such as mudslides and fires. Photographs of barges, dredging boats, tugboats, ocean-going cargo and historical ships, naval vessels and submarines are also documented passing through the locks.
The 24 cloth-covered post binders that comprise the collection contain, in addition to photographs, maps and introductory typescripts written by John Claybourn. Each volume also opens with a "Table of Contents" listing the number of photographs, and brief or detailed caption information. As a supervising engineer, and later, Dredging Division Superintendent for the Canal, Claybourn compiled this material to complement his annual reports to Canal administrators. Despite the fact the Canal was considered complete in 1914, and that year is documented in volume 8, Claybourn continued compiling these binders for the remainder of his career, ending with a total of 24 volumes. Although the Canal was considered complete, for another 16 volumes, the photographs document the neverending tasks of improvements, disaster clean-up, and infrastructure development to handle a growing population.
Most, if not all, of the photographs were taken by the official photographer of the Isthmina Canal Commission, Ernest "Red" Hallen (1875-1947). In addition, there are a number of formerly classified aerial photographs taken by the United States Navy, a number of which show a munitions/armory location along the Canal.
John Geronald Claybourn (ASCE, SAME) was born in Albert Lea, MN, on May 23, 1886, and died in Ann Arbor, MI, on June 26, 1967. Claybourn was a civil engineer, consultant on marine development and dredging, and from 1914 to 1948, the Dredging Division Superintendent of the Isthmian Canal Commission. He was the author of many books and articles on the Panama Canal, including Dredging on the Panana Canal (Chicago: A. Kroch, c1931).
