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strong>$15 for those without current NY NATAS membership.<
/div>
\;
The creati
on of the Panama Canal has been described as perhaps the most significant
engineering feat of the past several hundred years. \; Very early in i
ts history, an exploratory trip by several US naval vessels was instituted
by President Ulysses S. Grant. \; He sent ships to explore the possib
ility of a canal somewhere in Central America to connect the Atlantic Ocea
n with the Pacific. \; Later, in 1880, the French engineer Ferdinand d
e Lessups, who had built the Suez Canal, at age 60, decided to build a can
al connecting the two oceans. \; He raised millions of French francs a
nd created a corporation to achieve this feat. \; After the loss of 22
,000 men due to illness, mostly Malaria and Yellow Fever, he abandoned his
dream. \; The enormous financial loss almost bankrupted the French Em
pire. \; When Teddy Roosevelt became President after the assassination
of William McKinley, this larger than life figure once again took up the
challenge. \; The first item on his agenda was to eradicate the two di
seases, which had rendered the French effort such a massive defeat. \;
Teddy sent Surgeon General William Gorgas south. \; Gorgas had though
t that the tiny mosquito was the carrier of both Yellow Fever and Malaria
and screened all the windows in the dwellings and offices of the existing
buildings. He covered all the standing water with oil and within three mon
ths, both diseases had disappeared. \; Then the digging began and the
story of its construction, amply documented by the staff photographers dis
patched by TR, told the story of this massive engineering feat. \; Fro
m 1904 to 1914 this effort dominated world history. \; Since most worl
d trade travels by ship, the Canal shortened the trip from Asia to the Ame
rican east coast and Europe. \; The Canal became central to world trad
e. \; Now, after the construction of \; supertankers and enormous
vessels, the Canal is being rebuilt with locks twice the length and width
of the earlier locks. \; This documentary tells the entire story of it
s construction and how it works.
\;
Sum
ner Jules Glimcher, whose entire career has been in media, began
as a Page at NBC, where six years provided his background in radio and tel
evision. \; Later working at Radio Free Europe, he gained knowledge of
international broadcasting, which he used as Manager of Foreign News at W
OR and RKO General. \; He later worked for PBS and taught at Harvard,
his alma mater, Columbia and NYU. \; He has been a consultant to the P
resident of Harvard, the United Nations and for more than twenty years, th
e Consulate General of Japan. \; Now retired he has brought &ldquo\;Me
et The Filmmaker&rdquo\; to NATAS for the past several years.
\;
RESE
RVATIONS REQUIRED DUE TO BUILDING SECURITY. ALL NAMES MUST BE ON GUEST LIS
T.
Please RSVP via email info@nyemmys.org \;<
strong>to reserve a seat. Space is limited. \;
\;
Produced &\; Moderated
by Sumner Jules Glimcher.
\;
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bsp\;