100 Years in America
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100 YEARS IN AMERICA TSAMANTAS (GREECE) – WORCESTER, MA (USA), 1908-2008 Historical Determinants and Images of the Identity and Culture of Diasporas from Southeastern Europe Proceedings of the Conference held at the Hellenic College, Brookline (Boston) October 11 2008 Edited on behalf of the St. George’s Hellenic Benefit Society of Tsamanta[s], Worcester, MA by Dimitrios Konstadakopulos and Soterios Zoulas 100 YEARS IN AMERICA TSAMANTAS (GREECE) – WORCESTER, MA (USA), 1908-2008 Historical Determinants and Images of the Identity and Culture of Diasporas from Southeastern Europe edited on behalf of The St. George‘s Hellenic Benefit Society of Tsamanta[s], Worcester, MA by Dimitrios Konstadakopulos & Soterios Zoulas Proceedings of the Conference held at the Hellenic College, Brookline (Boston) October 11 2008 First Published in the United Kingdom in 2010 by The University of the West of England, Bristol © D. Konstadakopulos, S. Zoulas & and the several authors each in respect of the paper contributed, 2010. The 2008 group photo on the cover was kindly supplied by John Lenis British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-86043-451-8 Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the Printing Services of the University of the West of England, Bristol. All rights reserved. Contents List of Contributors................................................................................................... ii Preface........................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgement...................................................................................................... iv Introduction Dimitrios Konstadakopulos and Soterios Zoulas.......................................................... v Background Information on Migration to Worcester, MA, from the Epirote Village of Tsamantas Dimitrios Konstadakopulos........................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Celebrating Greek American Heritage Alexander Kitroeff......................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Family, Community and the Migration Process: The First Greek Epirotes in Early-Twentieth-Century Worcester, Massachusetts Dimitrios Konstadakopulos........................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3: Hidden Histories and Silent Witnesses – What the Migrants Left Behind Lynn Morrison............................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 4 : Greek Americans through the 2000 Census: A look at structural assimilation Anna Karpathakis......................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 5 : Immigrant Banking and the Sale of Shipping Tickets at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Torsten Feys................................................................................................................ 56 Chapter 6: The Main European Migration Trade towards American North Atlantic Coast in the Nineteenth Century Antonia Sagredo…………………………………………………………………………….. 76 Chapter 7: Going West! Leaving 19th Century Rural Northern New England: Diaspora from the Town of Industry, Maine Paul B. Frederic............................................................................................................ 85 i List of contributors Prof. Paul B. Frederic, Professor of Geography, University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, ME Dr Anna Karpathaki, Associate Professor of Sociology, Kingsborough C.C., City University of New York Dr. Alexander Kitroeff, Associate Professor of History & Academic Director, Center for Peace & Global Citizenship, Haverford College, Pennsylvania Dr Dimitrios Konstadakopulos, Senior Research Fellow in European Studies, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom Lynn Morrison, Conservationist at the Saffron Walden Museum, Essex, United Kingdom Dr Torsten Feys, Researcher at the European University Institute, Brussels, Belgium Dr Antonia Sagredo Santos, Associate Professor of History, National University of Education (UNED), Madrid, Spain Dr Soterios Zoulas, Associate Professor of Communications and Chair of the Communication Arts Department, Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA, USA ii Preface This edited publication, the contribution of many people, is the result of the ‘100 Years in America: Historical Determinants and Images of the Identity and Culture of Diasporas from Southeastern Europe’ conference that took place in the Hellenic College, in Brookline (Boston), Massachusetts, in October 11 2008. The academic aspect of the conference was co-organised by the two editors, while the logistics and planning was undertaken by the executive members of St. George‘s Hellenic Benefit Society of Tsamanta in Worcester, MA, which was celebrating its centenary. The participants were welcomed by Mr Charles Keratsis, president of the St. George‘s Society, as well as by the Rev. Father Nicholas Triantafilou, president of Hellenic College and the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School in Brookline, MA and Mr Constantinos Orphanides, the Consul General of Greece in Boston. Nicholas Gage, the well-known author of Eleni and A Place for Us, gave a moving account of his own experience of migrating from Epirus to Worcester, MA. The ‘100 Years in America’ conference was part of three days of celebration which also included the following: A reception at the Worcester Art Museum on Friday 10 October 2008. The reception was attended by over 80 individuals, and in the opening speech, Mr Charles Keratsis, the president of the St. George‘s Society, welcomed everyone and highlighted the philanthropic activities of St. George‘s over its 100 years of existence. Subsequent speakers included His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston; The Honourable Constantinos Orphanides, the Consul General of Greece in Boston; and Dr Alexander Kitroeff, Associate Professor of History at Haverford College, Philadelphia, PA. Amongst other notable guests were Archimandrite Methodios, the Abbot of the Monastery of Giromeri, Greece; the Rev.Father Dean Paleologos, Cathedral Dean, and Father Gregory Christakos, Associate Pastor, of St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral; and Konstantina Lukes, the Mayor of Worcester. The final address, given by the first editor, paid tribute to the St. George‘s Society, and made an appeal for the migrants‘ descendants to visit their ancestral village, in order to bring new life to it. A commemorative symposium at St. Spyridon’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Worcester, Sunday 12 October 2008. This was preceded by a celebration of the divine liturgy by the Abbot of Giromeri Methodios, assisted by the Rev. Father Dean Paleologos, Cathedral Dean and the Rev. Father Gregory Christakos, Associate Pastor. The powerful sermon was delivered by the Abbot, who had brought the holy relics from the Monastery of St. George‘s in Tsamantas, for public veneration. The symposium that followed was attended by over 100 people from Worcester‘s Greek-American community, and especially from the first, second and third generations of the Tsamantas migrants‘ families. It was addressed by Rep. James McGovern(D- Worcester), who announced that he had deposited – in the National Archives at Washington – a record of the contribution to the American nation made by the first immigrants from Tsamantas, as celebrated in our three-day event, ‗100 Years in America‘. The Mayor of Worcester, Konstantina Lukes, also addressed the participants, and declared the 12th of October as a future commemorative date on which to remember the courage and enterprise of those first migrants from Tsamantas to the city of Worcester. The keynote speaker, George Tselos, an archivist at the Statute of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, explained why it is important for local societies, such as St. George‘s, to preserve their documents (newspapers, committee minutes etc) for the benefit of future generations, and academic researchers. Finally, the first editor was once again honoured to spend a few minutes talking about the admirable lives of the first few waves of settlers from Tsamantas. Dimitrios Konstadakopulos & Soterios Zoulas, January 2010 iii Acknowledgement In both Brookline and in the historic city of Worcester, Massachusetts, we celebrated the centenary of the St. George‘s Hellenic Benefit Society of Tsamanta[s]. This event would not be taking place without the actions of many individuals, past and present, to whom we should like to pay tribute. We acknowledge the valuable contribution made by the St. George‘s Society, which has organised and financed not just the academic conference, but also the other activities, including a reception at the Worcester Arts Museum, and the celebrations in the impressive Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Spyridon‘s in Worcester. The Society was created by pioneering emigrants from the village of Tsamantas in Epirus, who made the courageous decision, more than 100 years ago, to start a new life in the industrialised north-east of the United States. The role of this philanthropic society was (and still is) of a multidimensional nature. For example, it collected money for various projects that would benefit the village of Tsamantas; it prepared those individuals who were planning to return