The Greek Revolution (1821-29) through American Eyes (A Bicentennial Virtual and Traveling Exhibition)

A Partnership between Maliotis Cultural Center of Hellenic College Holy Cross and The Dean C. and Zoë S. Pappas Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies of Stockton University

Co-Directors: Tom Papademetriou, Ph.D., Professor of History, Stockton University Nicholas Ganson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, Hellenic College

Abstract: To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821, the Maliotis Cultural Center of Hellenic College Holy Cross (HCHC) and the Dean C. and Zoë S. Pappas Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies of Stockton University will collaborate to produce a virtual online digital exhibition and a corresponding 250-square-foot exhibition printed on portable panels that will open in March 2021, and will travel (as appropriate) to universities and community centers around the country. The exhibition, The Greek Revolution (1821-29) through American Eyes, explores the common themes binding Greece and the United States in Greece’s pursuit of universal freedom and liberty, focusing on the myriad connections between the Greek revolutionaries and individual Americans. Viewers will come to better understand the Greek Revolution through writings and actions of Americans who supported and fought in the war, as well as gain insight into American identity in its formative years as a nation.

Exhibition Historical Background: On March 25, 1821 in the city of Kalamata, Greece, a large gathering of chieftains from the region of Mani, known as the Messinian Senate of Kalamata, convened to issue a revolutionary proclamation for “Liberty” from the “tyranny of the Turks.” This proclamation for “Liberty” was sent to the governments of Europe in the name of the Senate and the Commander-in-Chief Petro Bey Mavromichalis.

Adamantios Korais, the revolutionary figure and intellectual luminary residing in Paris, also forwarded the proclamation across the Atlantic Ocean: it eventually reached the desk of U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. In his own hand, Korais appealed to the newly formed government of the United States, which had succeeded in achieving its own independence through a struggle against the British. In the appeal PetroBey Mavromihalis addressed the citizens of the United States of America directly: “Having formed the resolution to live or die for freedom, we are drawn toward you by a just sympathy; since it is in your land that Liberty has fixed her abode, and by you that she is prized as by our fathers.” The letter added, “It is for you, citizens of America, to crown this glory, in aiding us to purge Greece from the barbarians, who for four hundred years have polluted the soil.” Thus, the Greek revolutionaries understood themselves as part of a universal struggle for freedom.

The appeal made by the Messinian Senate for American support was considered in the highest offices of the U.S. government. As the Greek Revolution was unfolding, the elected leadership of

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the U.S. was caught up in a debate over whether to engage in “foreign entanglements.” John Quincy Adams opposed intervention, ostensibly because he was uncertain whether Greece would succeed in her bid for independence, and cautioned President James Monroe not to commit U.S. aid to the cause. On December 2, 1823, President Monroe issued the famous Monroe Doctrine as part of his Seventh Annual Message to Congress, and while setting forth a policy of non- interference in European affairs and pledging no aid to the Greek revolutionaries, he expressed sympathy for the Greek cause and the conviction that the struggle for independence will be crowned with success. Establishing American foreign policy for generations to come, the Monroe Doctrine expected Europe to refrain from their own political or military entanglements in the Western hemisphere and yet, he made sure to voice support for the Greeks.

Even after rejecting the Greek call for aid, there were many in the U.S. government who felt morally obliged to take up the charge to assist Greece. Members of the U.S. Congress, such as Congressmen Daniel Webster (Massachusetts) and Henry Clay (Kentucky), made impassioned speeches for support on the floor of Congress. Unfortunately for the Greek cause, the principles of neutrality, as well as an eye to negotiating commercial treaties with the Ottoman government, kept the U.S. officially out of the conflict.

The American populace, however, had a more definitive positive response. The blend of Philhellenic and Christian sentiments in the United States in the 1820s led university students to rally to the cause, both to raise money and to volunteer for the war. With the support of figures like Edward Everett, Professor of Classics at Harvard, there was a groundswell of support for the Greeks on university campuses and in the general elite society of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. This phenomenon came to be known as “Greek fever” or “Greek fire” and, for a time, was a favorite subject of the American press, which closely covered the course of the war. Private citizens formed “Greek Relief Committees” to raise money to assist with military and more-so humanitarian aid. The relief effort, which sought to alleviate famine and improve the plight of refugees, constituted one of the first examples of private or non-state international humanitarianism in the modern era.

Individual Americans also felt the call to go to Greece in take part in the in the fight for independence. Among the most prominent and colorful was George Jarvis, a New Yorker who ventured to join the revolutionaries, learn Greek, wear a foustanella, or Greek folk kilt, and fight as a klepht, or brigand-insurrectionist, until his death in 1828. Samuel Gridley Howe of Boston graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1824, enlisted in the Greek cause as a surgeon and was recognized as the “Lafayette of the Greek Revolution.” Gridley Howe established a refugee community near Corinth, called Washingtonia, and later returned to America to use his experience and influence to raise $60,000 for the Greek cause in 1827. King Otto of Greece later rewarded him for his wartime bravery.

Samuel Gridley Howe sustained support for the Greek cause dovetailed with his views on slavery in America. He and his wife Julia Ward Howe, both prominent humanitarians, became important Abolitionists in the lead-up to the American Civil War. Julia Ward Howe even penned the lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. For the Howes, the fight freedom and liberty for humankind was universal.

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The Greek Revolution Through American Eyes aims to reposition the Greek Revolution as a global and international event of significance. This exhibition will serve as a dual lens, which will 1) show viewers the central Greek revolutionary events and their significance through the writings and actions of Americans who supported and fought in the war and 2) provide insights into U.S. identity in the first fifty years of the nation’s existence, as foreign policy was taking shape and it was beginning to recognize and confront its own social inequities.

Audience: This exhibition is directed primarily to a Greek-American audience, but also broader American society and an international public audience interested in modern Greece through the engagement with global issues of liberty, foreign affairs, and humanitarianism. The nexus of these topics also lends itself to use for the classroom, as part of secondary-school and college or university curricula.

Outline: The story of the Greek Revolution will be presented through the eyes of Americans and American Philhellenes, with references to specific texts and documents that will be reproduced to punctuate the narrative. This exhibition will draw extensively on the edited compilation of sources provided in Constantine G. Hatzidimitriou,“Founded on Freedom and Virtue”: Documents Illustrating the Impact in the United States of the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1829, (Aristide D. Caratzas, 2002).

Below are the eight themes around which the narrative will be structured. There will be three panels devoted to each theme.

1. 1821- Proclaiming Independence in Greece and Around the World Messinian Senate & Proclamation Sent to Courts of Europe and America

2. Age of Revolutions American, Haitian, South American Sketch of the Greek Revolution & notable figures Samuel Gridley Howe’s An Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution published in 1828, will serve as a guidepost/consistent narrative voice.

3. The Greek Question & American Foreign Policy John Quincy Adams James Monroe- Monroe Doctrine On the floor of the US Congress: Daniel Webster and Henry Clay US Trade Interests with Ottoman government Observations of Admiral Rogers

4. The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson and Adamantios Korais, 1823

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Korais was a leading intellectual and Greek patriot, who appealed to the former president for political advice and support. Among other things, Jefferson emphasizes the importance for educating the citizenry in order to govern themselves.

5. Greek Fever Strikes America Edward Everett, Professor of Classics at Harvard. Everett was a chief proponent of support for the Greek cause on university campuses and in the general elite society of Boston and New York. He initiated what would later be termed “Greek Fever.” Popular Press Greek Relief Committees (Boston, New York, Philadelphia) Greek Frigate Affair

6. Americans in Foustanellas George Jarvis Captain Johathan Peckham Miller Samuel Gridley Howe

7. Greek Refugee Immigrants to the US Gregorios Perdikares Alexandros Paspates Evangelos Sophocles, Professor at Harvard College

8. 400 Years a Slave and the American Abolitionists Samuel Gridley Howe- Julia Ward African Americans enlisting Ancient Greece “Greek Slave” Statue and Exhibition

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Project: The Greek Revolution exhibition project will consist of 1) an online digital exhibition, 2) a traveling exhibition (in duplicate for HCHC and Stockton). Additional activities may be organized in relation to this exhibit, such as lectures and a popular publication (to be funded separately). 1. Online Digital Exhibition a. Exhibition materials b. Messages and docent-guided tours from well-known individuals (Archbishop Elpidophoros, George Stephanopoulos, etc.) c. Links to videos, archives, museums, churches, and monasteries d. Curricular resources for universities, public schools, and afternoon Greek schools 2. 250-square-foot panel exhibition (24 panels) a. Travel from March 2021-December 2021 b. Durable to be set up outdoors c. Panels with researched information d. Images of significant artifacts e. Written by students and specialists f. Curricular Study Guide 3. In person and distance lectures related to exhibition (to be funded separately) 4. A popular publication with essays, maps and historical material for distribution (to be funded separately)

Timeline:

Date Action September Planning & Organization: MOU, Invitations to Scholars & Students Begin Conceptual Design of Exhibit January 5, 2021 Entries Due January 31, 2021 Script Draft Due December- February Exhibition Design 2021 March 1, 2021 Online Exhibition Testing March 20, 2021 Online Exhibition Official Launch March 20, 2021 Installation of Physical Exhibits March 25, 2021 Exhibition Opening April 1, 2021 Outside Evaluation

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Directors: Tom Papademetriou, Ph.D. Tom Papademetriou is the Constantine and Georgeian Georgiou Endowed Professor of Greek History, and Director of the Dean C. and Zoë S. Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies of Stockton University. A graduate of both Hellenic College (BA, 1988) and Holy Cross School of Theology (M. Divinity, 1992), Dr. Papademetriou received his Ph.D. in 2001 from Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies in Ottoman History. Conducting research in the Ottoman Archives, the Archives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, and at the Centre for Asia Minor Studies in Athens, he focuses on the history of non-Muslims under Ottoman rule, especially the relations of the Greek Orthodox Church and State in the early Ottoman centuries which is the subject of his book, Render Unto the Sultan published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Papademetriou has been awarded research fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, American Research Institute in Turkey, and Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Research Center-Harvard University. Most recently he was the Edwin C. and Elizabeth A. Whitehead Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Dr. Papademetriou also directs the Anatolian Churches Project, an international collaborative project that was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Nicholas Ganson, Ph.D. Nick Ganson is Assistant Professor of History and Director of the New York Life Insurance Company Center for the Study of Hellenism in Pontus and Asia Minor at Hellenic College (Brookline, MA). Professor Ganson earned his B.A. in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross (1998), M.A. with distinction in History from Boston College (2000), and Ph.D. in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2006). He has received a number of prestigious prizes, including fellowships from the Fulbright-Hays Program and the Social Science Research Council. At Hellenic College, he has taught courses in Greek and Orthodox history, including Byzantine History, the History of Modern Greece, the History of Orthodox Monasticism, and Russian Religious History. Dr. Ganson’s research interests include the complex interaction of Orthodox Christianity with modern state and society, particularly in the Russian context.

Scholars: Select scholars with appropriate expertise will prepare texts.

Students: Hellenic College and Stockton University students will undertake research and assist in creating the exhibit.

Design & Technical Assistance: Graphic Design for website and for free standing panels.

Evaluation: An outside evaluator specializing in exhibitions will be enlisted to make an assessment.

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