Jul

Today in Smithsonian History: July 16, 1946

Aerial view of the Barro Colorado Island laboratory of the Canal Zone Biological Area located on Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal watershed in Panama, c. 1950. The CZBA was made part of the Smithsonian in 1946 and later renamed the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. This view shows the dock and facilities from Gatun Lake.

July 16, 1946 The Canal Zone Biological Area in Panama is put under Smithsonian Institution administration by President Harry S. Truman. The tropical research station, located on Barro Colorado Island and reserved for scientific purposes in 1923, had been set aside by United States Congress in 1940 as a preserve administered by a board on which the Smithsonian had participated. It is later renamed the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Smithsonian Tropical research Institute facilities on Barro Colorado Island, Panama

The Barro Colorado Nature Monument of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has a huge role in the conservation of tropical forests and wildlife. Among its endeavors BCNM has been protecting and investigating the ecology of over 13,800 acres of land, which includes Barro Colorado Island and five nearby peninsulas, for more than 80 years. This site has one of the longest histories of research in the New World tropics.
Every year almost 300 scientists from around the world visit BCI. In addition to the research conducted, this area provides refuge to nearly 50 percent of all the animal and bird species reported in Panama.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives