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West Indies photograph album, circa 1920

 

Summary

Creator:
Unknown
Abstract:
The West Indies photograph album, circa 1920, contains forty-two photographs taken on a cruise to the West Indies aboard the S.S. Megantic. The album features scenes from Havana, Cuba; Venezuela; Jamaica; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Port of Spain, Trinidad; St. Thomas; Saint-Pierre, Martinique; Cristóbal; Panama; and Chimborazo, Barbados. There are photographs of the S.S. Megantic, El Templete in Havana, Cuba; Castillo del Morro in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; and the Gatún Locks, Pedro Miguel Locks, Miraflores Locks; and the Culebra Cut taken while traveling through the Panama Canal. The S.S. Megantic launched in 1908. The ship provided service between Liverpool and Quebec City, Canada from 1909 until 1914, when it was briefly put on the Liverpool-New York City service. The Megantic served as a troop ship from 1917 until the end of World War I. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, the Megantic was used in the winter for cruising from New York to the Caribbean. The Megantic was taken out of service in 1931 and sold to shipbreakers in Osaka, Japan to be scrapped in 1933.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet 1 box
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], West Indies photograph album, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.

Background

Scope and content:

The West Indies photograph album, circa 1920, contains forty-two photographs taken on a cruise to the West Indies aboard the S.S. Megantic. The album features scenes from Havana, Cuba; Venezuela; Jamaica; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Port of Spain, Trinidad; St. Thomas; Saint-Pierre, Martinique; Cristóbal; Panama; and Chimborazo, Barbados. There are photographs of the S.S. Megantic, El Templete in Havana, Cuba; Castillo del Morro in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; and the Gatún Locks, Pedro Miguel Locks, Miraflores Locks; and the Culebra Cut taken while traveling through the Panama Canal. The album also includes images of locals in Barbados; Panama; Trinidad; Jamaica; Caracas, Venezuela; Saint-Pierre, Martinique; and Fort-de-France, Martinique.

The photographs are glued to black paper, and many are captioned in white ink. Two photographs, "Blue Mountain Jamaica" and "Boolie[?] Fleet Jamaica," fell out of the album and are housed in mylar sleeves.

Biographical / historical:

The S.S. Megantic, an ocean liner named after Lake Megantic in Ontario, Canada, launched in 1908. Harland & Wolff, LTD built the Megantic in Belfast, Ireland as part of the White Star Line. It weighed 14,878 tons and was fitted with electric light, refrigerating machinery, and a submarine signaling device. The ship provided service between Liverpool and Quebec City, Canada from 1909 until 1914, when it was briefly put on the Liverpool-New York City service. In 1915, the Megantic escaped a German submarine that chased it off the coast of Ireland. The Megantic served as a troop ship from 1917 until the end of World War I.

Following World War I, the ship returned to its Liverpool-Quebec City route. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, the Megantic was used in the winter for cruising from New York to the Caribbean. The Megantic was taken out of service in 1931 and sold to shipbreakers in Osaka, Japan to be scrapped in 1933.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Buckingham Books in 2021 with funding from the William L. Bryant Endowment (Accession no. CFM2022_08).
Processing information:

Processed and finding aid prepared by Arielle Petrovich in 2024.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The entire collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce mustbe secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], West Indies photograph album, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.

Location of this collection:
John C. Hitt Library
12701 Pegasus Drive, Building 2
Orlando
FL
32816-8030
USA