"The Missing Museum - Honoring the Greek Legacy in Manhattan" is an article authored by Professor Alexander Kitroeff, published in The National Herald, January 27, 2024 Edition.   ---------- Several years ago, we were lucky enough to get permission from The National Herald to repost articles that are of interest to our group.                                                                                           ---------- It has occurred to me that Manhattan is in need of a Greek-American museum. The realization came to me in a roundabout way, and quite unexpectedly. On a recent visit to New York City I was gathering data for my next book by interviewing Greek-American diner owners. Over time, I hope to spea...

  "Legend of the Lynched Greek" by Steve Frangos, article published in The National Herald, March 4-10, 2023.   ----- Hellenic Genealogy Geek would like to thank The National Herald for giving us permission, many years ago, to reprint articles that would be of interest to our genealogy community. ----- As best I can remember, the first time, I heard ‘the legend of the lynched Greek’ I was a teenager. Since, that time the tale of this youth has been told to me many times. As this legend goes, the so-called lynched Greek was an immigrant from the 1880 to 1920 waves who was hung by the Ku Klux Klan. The way the story always unfolded was the Greek-American speaker had himself/herself been told a Greek youth had somehow offended or challenged the Ku Klux Klan and so had been hung. But the teller of this tale never really knew much more. I was always reassured that I could and should learn more about this fallen and forgotten hero. And I tried. But it was a huge circle. First e...

  Literary Review: 'SWEET GREEKS' HIGHLIGHTS IMMIGRANT CONFECTIONERS  IN THE MIDWEST USA Review by Eleni Sakellis published in The National Herald November 21, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- While the Greek immigrant experience in the United States has long been associated with diners and the restaurant business, many Greeks went into candy-making. Many confectioners' shops were started by Greek immigrants in the 20th century, some of which are still operating as family-run businesses.  Sweet Greeks:  First-Generation Immigrant Confectioners in the Heartland by Ann Flesor Beck weaves together family memoir and the history of the Midwest in her book which highlights the Greek immigrant experience through her grandfather's story as a confectioner in Illinois.  The book was published in October by the University of Illinois Press...

  11/24/1920 - THE WASHINGTON HERALD (source:  Library of Congress) WALKERS HERE ON LONG TRAMP ----- Party of Three Visit District On First Lap of Hike To Pacific ----- LIGHT PACK IS CARRIED ----- New York Men Plan to Spend Winter on Road Through Southwest ----- Stopping only long enough to visit the White House and The Herald office, Matthew Agriaphiotis, 21, Charles Kefalas, 19, and Pete Spirou, 20 , three Greek-Americans, passed through the District yesterday morning on the first leg of their three-month tramp to Frisco. Weary of New York City, the trio left the downtown district of that city promptly at noon last Saturday and they arrived in Washington at 11 o'clock yesterday.  One of the treasures of the party is a letter given them just before they left by Mayor Hylan addressed to the mayor of San Francisco.  This letter asks Mayor Rolph of Frisco "to grant them an audience" and expresses the wish that the boys will succeed in accomplishing their long distance ...

  Ancestry.com has added a new database titled "Delaware, Federal Naturalization Records, 1802-1943".  It includes 116 born in Greece and 24 born in Turkey. These records are from a variety of different sources: All Sources Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1929 . 7 Volume, Oversize. NAI:  4706961 . Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Petitions for Naturalization, WWI Military, 1917-1920 . 1 Volume. Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Petitions for Naturalization, 1910-1980 . 2 Letter Archives Box, Standard 2 Volume, Oversize. NAI:  4682312 . Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1912-1989 . 5 Volume, Ledger Size 3 Letter Archives Box, 5 inch. NAI:...

  Ancestry.com has added a new database titled " West Virginia, Federal Naturalization Records, 1844-1943 ".  It includes 1,180 records for people born in Greece and 633 born in Turkey. These records are from a variety of different sources: All Sources Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1929 . 7 Volume, Oversize. NAI:  4706961 . Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Petitions for Naturalization, WWI Military, 1917-1920 . 1 Volume. Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Petitions for Naturalization, 1910-1980 . 2 Letter Archives Box, Standard 2 Volume, Oversize. NAI:  4682312 . Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1912-1989 . 5 Volume, Ledger Size 3 Letter ...

  FamilySearch.org has a new database titled " United States, California Certificates Surrendered at San Francisco from Aliens Previously at Honolulu, Hawaii, 1912-1946 ".  This database includes 41 people born in Greece and 26 people born in Turkey. This collection contains copies of INS Form 546,(22,000) Alien Certificate - Insular Territory. Before Hawaii's admission to statehood in 1959 any immigrants departing Hawaii for the mainland (whether citizens of Hawaii or those temporarily porting there) were required to be inspected and then given this certificate. Upon arriving at the mainland the alien had to surrender the certificate in order to be admitted. The forms are arranged chronologically. Images are originally housed at The National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives Microfilm Publication A3975. These records cover the years 1912-1946. The following information may be found in these records: Name Age Country of Origin Name of ship Port of ar...

  FamilySearch.org has a new FREE database titled " Indiana, Harrison County, Index Cards t.o Corydon Democrat Newspaper Obituaries, 1861-2008 " which includes 4 people born in Greece. This collection is a set of index cards to obituaries found in the  Corydon Democrat , published in Harrison County, Indiana, for the years 1861 to 2008. The digital images of the original collection are held by Keith E. Curtis of Baker City, Oregon. The following information may be found in these records: The name of the deceased The date of death Place of death The date of birth Place of birth Names of relatives Place of burial

  FamilySearch.org has a new FREE database titled "Texas, Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, 1924-1954" which includes 45 people born in Greece.   This collection contains over 200,000 manifests of alien arrivals at El Paso Texas from 1924 through 1954. It corresponds with NARA publication A3455. Patrons should check the back of each card as there is more information, and in some cases a photo, on the back. The following information may be found in these records: Name Residence Birth Date Birth Place Gender Marital Status Occupation Nationality Date entering the country

  GREEK IMMIGRANTS AMERICAN DREAM IN OHIO by TNH Staff published in The National Herald August 8, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- AKRON, OH – Greek immigrants Gus Kleines and John Petrou opened the Chocolate Shop in Akron on July 29, 1916, and as the Akron Beacon Journal (ABJ) reported, “it took moxie to open a chocolate shop on a 95-degree day in July.”  The shop was located at 4 South Howard Street near West Market Street with the Cretanborn Kleines as company president, Petrou, from Mandra outside Athens, as secretary and treasurer, while two other Greek immigrants, George Delis and Mike Lampos, served as vice presidents, ABJ reported.  “While the name might sound generic a century later, it was ahead of its time,” ABJ reported, noting that “such establishments were called candy stores and confectioneries before the businessmen i...

ORCHESTRION, GREEK CONFECTIONAIRES AND THE INTRO OF MECHANICAL MUSIC by Steve Frangos published in The National Herald July 25, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- Even the most superficial of historical reviews clearly documents the role of Greek immigrants in the establishment and spread of popular entertainment forms across the Western Hemisphere. Public entertainment venues owned and operated by Greeks span just about every entertainment form in the history of the United States ranging across midways, carnivals, circuses, nickelodeons, vaudeville theaters, movie theaters, dance halls, dime-a-dance halls, hay rides, ice skate/roller skate rinks, jazz dance clubs like the Green Mill – said to be the oldest continuously open jazz club in America – bars/saloons/lounges in remote areas of the country that furnished weekend dance bands, the grand Aragon and...

NATIONAL HELLENIC MUSEUM'S NEW ONLINE CONTENT NOW AVAILABLE by TNH Staff published in The National Herald May 16, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- CHICAGO – On June 24, the National Hellenic Museum (NHM) released information about its latest online content including a lecture, Virtual Book Group, and Social Media Initiatives.  The Greeks of Colonial Florida with Menios Papadimitriou, the latest installment in NHM’s online lecture series, NHM's Resident Scholar Dr. Katherine Kelaidis sits down with Menios Papadimitriou, a doctoral student at Fordham University working on the modern history of Orthodox Christianity. Papadimitriou discusses an early Greek settlement in colonial America. The lecture is available now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bFMfbQZR4EM .  Among NHM’s new Social Media Initiatives, NHM has launched several new recurring series t...

The menu at The Greek THE ATHENS HOTEL OF OLD NEW YORK by Steve Frangos published in The National Herald April 4, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- In Old New York, everyone who was anyone simply said they were going to 'The Greek'. Various reasons prompted visiting The Greek: an elegant leisurely breakfast, lunch, or dinner; just to meet some friends in the lounge over cigars and brandy; a safe clean place to stay while visiting New York City. In the evening it might be some elaborate social event. The sign out front, on 30 East Forty-second street, said 'Hotel Athens'. The hotel also had frontages on 42nd and 41st streets, 123 feet east of Madison Avenue (New York Tribune March 21, 1909). To be more exact “the hotel is T shaped, fronting 31.6 feet on Forty-second street and extends 200 feet through the b...