Oral history interview with Enrique Watson

Object Details

General: Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings.; Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.

Topic: Afro-Panamanians; Teachers; Education; Racially mixed families; Emigration and immigration; Interviews

See more items in: Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records; Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews

Sponsor: Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Citation: Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Rights: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Note: The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 50 minutes.

Scope and Contents: Enrique Watson, an educator at Lincoln Junior High School in northwest Washington, DC, spoke about his family's origin in Panama and Jamaica; his many siblings; being raised by two of his aunts; working as a custom inspector; the Panama Canal; his career as an educator in Panama and the United States; and when and why he immigrated to the United States. He explained how Panama evolved into a country of Spanish and English speakers, what accounted for the mix of Blacks and Hispanics in families, and that the majority of Black Panamanians are bilingual. Watson also spoke about overcoming his educational disability, his stuttering; his involvement in sports, including martial arts, soccer, and basketball; living in the city of Colón during his adolescent years; and incidents involving the clever thieves in Panama. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include loud white noise and static, and background noise. Interviewee's voice can be heard clearly for the most part.

Collection Restrictions: Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.