Caryj Mouritsen Cherry, Thomas L. Pearcy, History and Kennedy Center
As we saw in 1997 with the return of Hong Kong to mainland China, great international interest arises over the transferral of ownership rights from one country to another. Attention surged around the history surrounding the British occupation of Hong Kong and the decisions that both Britain and China effected in order to come to this momentous occasion. In the case of Hong Kong, thousands watched and wondered what the result of the transfer to China would mean to their booming, capitalist economy. On December 31, 1999, the Panama Canal will exchange hands and return to Panamanian control. This event will focus the world’s attention on Panama and on the decisions that they will make during this transitional period. If the situation in Hong Kong is any indicator, historians will have a renewed interest in the history of Panama during the construction of the canal and the many decisions that played a role in its development. The world will be watching to see how the transition is made as the U.S. government closes its military bases and how the Panamanians handle the situation.
It is with this renewed international interest in Panama in mind that I undertook the project of making Panamanian historical documents more accessible to researchers. This involved obtaining copies of historical documents in Panama with the purpose of scanning them into the Rey L. Pratt Center for Latin American Studies (fhss.byu.edu/history/pratt). The bulk of the documents came from the Porras Collection housed at the University of Panama. Dr. Porras served as President of the Republic for three terms, covering a span of ten years. The progressive spirit that he brought to his administration continues to serve modern Panama and makes his legacy even more vital to Panamanian history.
Dr. Pearcy discovered the Porras index on a research trip a couple of years ago. He realized the importance of the documents and wanted to make them accessible to other researchers. Under his guidance, I flew to Panama the first part of February and worked directly with Professors Garcia and Aparicio at the University. They were extremely valuable in showing me around the university. The entire index was available and at the end of ten days, I obtained over 20,000 copied pages, double the amount anticipated. The copiers at the University of Panama worked around the clock to finish the copies in the allotted time.
Specific success came from finding that the Porras index was much larger than expected and some last minute additional funding from the Kennedy Center allowed it to be copied in its entirety. Once the copies arrived in Provo, Dr. Pearcy made a deal with the Harold B. Lee Library staff to have the index bound, making B.Y.U. and the University of Panama the only places the index is available in hard copy.
My project did have its particular difficulties. A key aspect of my project was to help establish a sister institute relationship with the University of Panama. The professors I spoke with were enthusiastic about creating an exchange program with B.Y.U. However, unlike the extensive Study Abroad program already established at B.Y.U., the University of Panama has no such program. Dr. Garcia was especially interested, saying that the process could be accelerated since the current president of the university is from the History Department. Dr. Pearcy would be the perfect candidate to initiate the program. Unfortunately, he has taken a new professorship in Pennsylvania. While the preliminary steps to establish the program have been taken, without great initiative on the part of both universities, I do not anticipate this becoming a reality anytime soon.
I also encountered difficulties in Panama finding certain contacts at the National Archives and the Panama Canal Institute. It seemed like everyone was on vacation. Upon my return to Utah, I found that the paperwork with the order for our special scanner had not been sent through the proper channels. We had planned on having the scanner in place by the time I returned from Panama. However, the scanner did not arrive until five months later. In June, I also found out that Dr. Pearcy would be leaving B.Y.U. and his post as Latin American Studies Director. This required some adjustment for everyone involved in the project.
The final stage of the project is currently in the hands of the webmaster for the Pratt Center. The scanner is working well and the documents should be accessible on the web by the end of this fall semester. The bound index should be available in the library by winter semester.
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project with Dr. Pearcy. I overcame many fears and insecurities regarding research in a foreign country. His love and enthusiasm for Panama and scholarly research was a great example for me. The opportunity to associate with his colleagues in Panama and represent the Pratt Center motivated me to anticipate further graduate work in International Studies. The project itself ended up being tremendously more interesting and challenging that I had thought it would be. I learned that the benefits of doing undergraduate research greatly outweigh any negative aspects.