Seaway's builders will be recognized

MASSENA — The workers who built the St. Lawrence Seaway will figure prominently in its 50th anniversary celebrations, which begin today.

Claire Puccia Parham, author of "The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project: An Oral History of the Greatest Construction Show on Earth," will begin the four-day celebration with two presentations about her book at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. today at the Hawkins Point Visitors Center. Her talks will focus on the stories of the workers who built the Seaway that Mrs. Parham has spent years gathering.

"They never talk about it being built. They have parties for the executives, they talk about the pollution and the zebra mussels, but they never talk about it being built," said Mrs. Parham, a history professor at Siena College in Albany. "For me, what I couldn't let go of was the people. You have these men who have such clear memories and they couldn't let go."

Mrs. Parham is a Watertown native and began researching the Seaway while she was in college. Her book, which is in its second printing since coming out earlier this year, is the result of five years of research, tracking down and talking to the men and women who lived in Massena when the Seaway was under construction. This trip will be her first back to Massena in five years.

This presentation "is sort of the culmination of everything and a lot of the workers are going to be there," she said. "Besides getting married and having kids and stuff, this is probably the best thing I've ever done."

On Friday, a veteran of the Seaway will be one of several speakers at the anniversary celebration's opening ceremony. John B. Adams III, who was an engineer while the Seaway was built and stayed on to work there for nearly four decades after its completion, will talk about his time on the St. Lawrence.

Mr. Adams, who now lives in Rochester, was present for the opening of the Seaway in 1959 and will show a collection of pictures he took to document the project and ceremonies.

"When President Eisenhower and the queen disembarked at the lock, I was right there at the gangway," he said. "I could have gone out and shaken his hand, but I decided to take a picture instead."

Mr. Adams will be one of nine guest speakers at the opening ceremony, which begins at 3 p.m. at the Eisenhower Lock and Visitors Center. Other speakers include Collister W. Johnson Jr., administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., Richard Corfe, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., and Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the former president.