Macedonian Migration to North America and the Making of Modern Macedonia, 1870-1970
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: SALVATION ABROAD: MACEDONIAN MIGRATION TO NORTH AMERICA AND THE MAKING OF MODERN MACEDONIA, 1870-1970 Gregory Michaelidis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation Directed By: Professor Gary Gerstle, Chair, Department of History This dissertation explores the establishment of Macedonian diaspora communities in North America, and the concurrent development of Macedonian national identity, between 1870 and 1970. Taking a transnational approach to cultural history, it ultimately finds a reciprocal relationship between Macedonian migration and identity by focusing on key nationalist leaders and organizations, as well as the crucial points of transformation in the evolution of Macedonian national identity. By blurring the boundary between Canada and the United States – as did many migrants from Macedonia who saw the two countries as “Upper” and “Lower” America – this study emphasizes migration rather than settlement in order to unveil nationalism’s religious, cultural and political components. The dissertation, therefore, is grounded not in the cement of a single national narrative, but in the cultural products that result from passages – physical, spiritual, and social – among nations. As the nineteenth century ended, a climate of deprivation and violence compelled tens of thousands of men from the Macedonian region to depart their troubled corner of the Balkans and find economic salvation abroad. Like their fellow villagers, most of the migrants considered themselves to be geographically Macedonian but culturally Bulgarian. Almost none identified with a nationality in the modern sense. This study argues, however, that more than simply fulfilling an economic mission abroad, the migrant men, and later their families, capitalized on the freedoms North America offered to forge a broader “salvation” that fundamentally changed their national and ethnic worldview. Put another way, migration catalyzed a process in which the migrants became, simply, “Macedonians.” Far from leaving behind the political and cultural battles of their homeland, the migrant communities formed political, cultural, and religious organizations that sought to influence the policies of both their host and home countries. But defining the new Macedonian nation proved a contentious issue. As the migrant communities cleaved into left- and right-leaning factions during the middle and latter years of the twentieth century, the nature of Macedonian identity, which, I argue, was intimately connected to notions of Macedonian cultural history, became a fiercely contested subject, and remains so today. SALVATION ABROAD: MACEDONIAN MIGRATION TO NORTH AMERICA AND THE MAKING OF MODERN MACEDONIA, 1870-1970 By Gregory Michaelidis Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2005 Advisory Committee: Professor Gary Gerstle, Chair Professor James B. Gilbert Professor John R. Lampe Asst. Professor Lisa Mar Professor Martin Heisler © Copyright by Gregory Michaelidis 2005 For Stoyan ii Acknowledgements My committee has been supportive of this project at all stages. Professor Gary Gerstle deserves special thanks not only for his stewardship of the study, but for his uncommon patience during my lesser moments of clarity. Though the analysis and conclusions – and any errors – are my own, a keen reader will find evidence of his thinking on immigration and nationality throughout. Several archivists made my task easier: Lillian Petroff, Multicultural Historical Society of Ontario; Heather Muir, University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center; Peter Filardo, New York University Tamiment Library; and Svetlana Usprkova, State Archives of the Republic of Macedonia. Others offered ideas and comments on early drafts, including Keith Brown, Anastasia Karakasidou, Audrey Singer, Marvin Moehle, Mark Opashinov, Spiro Kotsopolous, Marc Favreau, David Sicilia, Madeline Zilfi, Martin Sletzinger, James Lindsay, Robert Szymczak, and Michael Frisch. James Saunders and Steve Pliakes generously opened their homes and papers to me. Grants from the University of Maryland Department of History, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars – Eastern European Studies Program, South East Europe Studies Association, and Euro-Balkan Institute made it possible for me to complete my research and try out my ideas with eager audiences. I am especially grateful for the research assistance provided by Ana Mukoska of the Euro- Balkan Institute, and the research and formatting help of Angelica Arreola and Amy Smith. Though many friends and family members tolerated me over the last few years, my wife, Tamara, surely – and lovingly – endured the most. She will never know how much credit she deserves for helping me see it through. iii Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................iii Contents ............................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures.................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Diasporic Dilemma: A Case Study in Modern Macedonian Nationalism... 1 On Macedonia and Macedonian Nationalism .............................................................................................7 On Nationalists and Transnationalists.......................................................................................................17 Framing the Question: Migration and Macedonian Identity .....................................................................25 Chapter 2: The Birth of Macedonia, 1870-1903 ......................................................... 29 A New Age of Nationalism: Macedonia at a Turning Point......................................................................32 Glimpse of the New World: The West Brings Politics and Religion East ................................................38 A Contest for Spirits and Minds: The Rise of Bulgarian Orthodoxy ........................................................41 Multiple and Malleable: Identities in the Macedonian Region..................................................................49 Articulating Ethnicity: Describing an Emergent Nationality ....................................................................53 Revolutionary Nationalism: Intellectuals Taking Up Arms ......................................................................61 Conclusion: Internationalizing the Macedonian Moment .........................................................................70 Chapter 3: Sojourning in “Upper and “Lower” America, 1903-1918......................... 76 The Pečalbari: Migrant Disorientation in the New World........................................................................78 The First “Americanauts” – Portraits of Foto Tomev and Stoyan Christowe ...........................................84 Counting Macedonians and Bulgarians in Upper and Lower America .....................................................92 Migration and National Identity: Finding Salvation, Facing New Questions............................................97 Race and Class in Upper and Lower America.........................................................................................101 Men at Work: Migration and Gender in the New World.........................................................................105 The Boarding House................................................................................................................................108 Ethnic Self-Reliance: The Mercantile House ..........................................................................................114 Work and the Politics of Labor ...............................................................................................................117 Sojourning and Settling: Building Social and Religious Organizations in the New World ..............................121 Religious Communities ...........................................................................................................................124 Conclusion - Settlement, Migration, and Identity ...................................................................................127 Chapter 4: Diasporic Visions of a Conservative Macedonia, 1918-1930 ................. 130 The International Meets the National: Global Politics and the New Macedonian Moment ..............................130 The Balkan Wars: “Appalling things are going on here” ........................................................................133 The Great War and Its Aftermath............................................................................................................139 Framing the Political Debate: The Post-Versailles Response .................................................................145 Seeking Order From Chaos: The Macedonian Political Organization ....................................................151 Defining Success: The MPO’s Strengths and Weaknesses .....................................................................160 Ink By The Barrel: The MPO and the Power of the Press.......................................................................164 A Mounting Macedonianism: The Pinnacle of MPO Influence..............................................................171 A Turning Point for