"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...

  GREEK-AMERICAN RESTAURANTS AND SUPPLIERS IN WASHINGTON by Steve Frangos published in The National Herald November 30, 2019 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- A Place at the Table: Images of GreekAmerican Restaurants & Suppliers in Washington State: 1900-1970' by Erika I. Wigren is a book that is the latest project conceived by the Greek-American Historical Museum of Washington State. Showcased are 70 images with identifying captions on Greekowned restaurants and suppliers from across Washington drawn from a much larger pool of historical images. These images were originally gathered in 2015 as part of the museum exhibit, A Place At The Table at the Museum of History & Industry when over 300 Greek-owned and operated restaurants across the state' were surveyed (https://mohai.org/).  Wigren notes, “[T]his collection of images was curated by th...

MASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM TO EXHIBIT GREEK, BYZANTINE ICONS Published in the Orthodox Observer, May - June 2018 Clinton, Mass. - The Museum of Russian Icons will present the first major exhibition on Icons of the Hellenic World  from June 22 to Oct. 21. The exhibition focuses exclusively on Greek and Byzantine iconography and will delve deeply into the links and the continuity of Greek art and culture from Late Antiquity, through Byzantium, to the present.  "We are very grateful to Emmanuel Tiliakos for the opportunity to showcase his extraordinary collection, giving contemporary viewers a window into the richness of Greek culture and history," says Museum of Russian Icons CEO and Curator Kent Russell.  "Though icons are considered works of art, they are important cultural and religious relics.  As they are handed down through generations, icons are often the only surviving testimonies of places and peoples long gone." Largely comprised of icons created aft...

The Benaki Toy Museum is fabulous!  Not only can you visit in person, but you can also view photographs of 3,009 toys online - https://www.benaki.gr/index.php?option=com_collections&view=collection&id=17&lang=el Below are excerpts from a recent article titled "Explore the Benaki Toy Museum" by Chryssoula Katsarou, published on windycitygreek.com -- https://windycitygreek.com/benaki-toy-museum/ "The Benaki Toy Museum recently opened to the public, offering visitors a unique journey throughout the centuries, using toys tour guides. The fairy tale begins as soon as the visitor arrives at the imposing tower. The beautiful 19th-century building with neo-Gothic, Baroque, and Art nouveau elements is part of the Kouloura House in Palaio Faliro, where the museum is located. There’s so much to see here. Find dolls with traditional costumes as well as Barbie’s “grandmothers”, mini carousels, even lead soldiers with spears – some wear  foustanelles ...

From the Summer 2016 Newsletter --  ARCHIVAL ITEMS TO BE AVAILABLE ONLINE  - The process of “digitizing” the archival items is well underway.  Almost 200 items (of over 600) have been photographed and documented in a searchable database format.  When completed, museum visitors will be able to search the archive from the  Greeks in Washington   home page.  The goal is to have the system activated by the end of 2016.

ONE ARCADIAN VILLAGE HAS GONE DIGITAL Published in The National Herald, August 15-21, 2015 Issue Authored by Angelike Contis Special to The National Herald ------------------------------ We are excited to announce that  The National Herald  has given Hellenic Genealogy Geek the right to reprint articles that may be of interest to our group.  ------------------------------ VLAHOKERASIA, GREECE - Vlahokerasia, population 424, will soon have something most Greek villages can only dream of:  its own digital museum.  Over the course of four years, a volunteer committee spearheaded by retired Sociology/Anthropology Professor Nikos Petropoulos, has prepared a collection of images, moving pictures, and documents to share with the world, digitally. If you've ever traveled between Tripoli and Sparta, in Greece's Peloponnese, chances are you've seen the sign for Vlahokerasia.  "To horio," or the village, as its fondly called by its son...

CHIOS MARITIME MUSEUM The Maritime Museum represents an age of Chios passed. It is a private collection whose main objective is to illustrate historical and cultural relationship Chios has with the sea though exhibits full of vigor and passion. It also aims to raise awareness of naval tradition with exhibitions, lectures, conferences, and through cooperation with their counterparts in the Aegean. The museum is in the center of town, housed in a traditional building which was donated by the heirs of Anastasiou and Maroukos Fatherfor in 1991. The primary goal of the museum is to explain the important social side of the island, collecting and collating historical information associated with maritime tradition. The museum also hosts lectures and conferences on island life and shipping, in cooperation with other museums of the Greek islands. Another important goal of the museum is to highlight the role of Chian shipping during the Second World War and the subsequent period of postwar...

THE KOMBOLOI MUSEUM In April 1998, Mr and Mrs Evangelinos -a couple who have been collecting and studying the komboloi since 1958- establish the first -and still unique in the world- Komboloi Museum in Nafplion. The couple takes their first lessons on komboloi and learns its secrets in Alexandria, Egypt, where Mr Evangelinos' grandfather lived. They start their journey on the "roads of komboloi" in 1963, a journey still continuing till today. They collect knowledge along with rare old strings of beads from all over the world- from Hinduists, Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics and Greeks- from the countries where the Greek nation prospered (Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt etc ). Thus, they acquire a unique collection of almost a thousand (1000) strings of beads dated from 1700 to 1950, made of pure amber, mastic-amber, faturan-amber, black(yusuri) and red coral, ivory, bone, horn, ebony, and so on.  READ MORE ABOUT THE MUSEUM AND TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR

The Vorres Folk Art Museum, known as Pyrgi, created by Ian Vorres, is justly considered today as an essential unit of Greece's traditional folk art institutions. . . . . Surveying the gardens and the interior spaces of the Museum complex, joined into a well-conceived aesthetic and impressive whole, and viewing the various categories of categories of exhibits, many quite unique, (like the best collection in Greece of the so-called "syriana" ceramics coming from the island of Syros, a special study of which is now being completed), the visitor is immediately taken by the sensitivity and refined eye of the collector and the scope of his achievement which aims at revealing the rich facets of Hellenism. Original in concept and of particular interest are the many groups of traditional and historic exhibits made of various materials, such as millstones, decorative marble insignia, stone troughs, well-heads, carved fountains, Aegean lintels, hand wrought iron grills, cand...

This looks so interesting, I will definitely put it on my list of places to visit the next time I am in Athens. The Museum of Greek Popular Musical Instruments (aka Museum of Greek Folk Instruments) Phoebus Anayanakis Center for Ethnomusicology Diogenous 1-3, Plaka, 105 56 Athens, Greece Open to the Public The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments - Center for Ethnomusicology inaugurated on June 6, 1991, and is a public entity supervised by the Ministry of Culture. It is based on a collection of 1200 Greek folk musical instruments from the 18th century to the present day, . . . donated in 1978 by Phoebus Anayanakis.

Greek Folk Art Museum Receives Rare Donation from Canada by Ioanna Zikakou - published by the Greek Reporter - Canada, February 13, 2015 In a reception organized by the Consulate General of Greece in Vancouver and the Greek community of Victoria, a unique collection of Greek traditional costumes was donated to the Greek Folk Art Museum. The Consul General of Greece in Vancouver, Ilias Kremmydas, received the collection for the Folk Art Museum and Greek Popular Musical Instruments. The collection was donated by Elizabeth Gage, who had inherited it from her aunt Winifred Dowding. According to Gage, her aunt acquired the rich collection when she served as a nurse in Greece during World War I.  - See more at: http://canada.greekreporter.com/2015/02/13/greek-folk-art-museum-receives-rare-donation-from-canada/#sthash.li2wbVqY.dpuf

Do you have any photographs of your Greek ancestor's living quarters when they first migrated to the United States, or any other country where they settled?  I have seen plenty of dining room photos from the 1940s and 1950s, after they were established in their new country, but I'm referring to the late 1800's through 1920's.  If you do, please share a copy on the Hellenic Genealogy Geek facebook group page, I am sure everyone of them will be appreciated by all. December 7, 2014 an online article was published by gothamist.com titled PHOTOS:  INSIDE THE TENEMENT MUSEUM A "NO PHOTO" ZONE   which features 42 photographs by Tod Seelie. "The Tenement Museum has a strict "no photo" policy, as they believe it takes away from the visitor experience - "We are trying to facilitate an interactive experience with our visitors.  It really is what makes us unique," the Museum's Jon Pace told us.  "All the tours we offer are...

CRETAN VILLAGE HOSTS MUSEUM OF GREEK RURAL HISTORY by Ioanna Zikakou Published in GreekReporter - Greece on October 20, 2014 Arolithos is a unique, traditional Cretan village. It lies just 11 kilometers away from Heraklion, along the old national road connecting it with Rethymnon. Built on a mountain slope, in the wild Cretan landscape, the village is a feast for the eyes, evoking memories from the past for older generations, regarding their way of living, while revealing the simplicity and beauty of old times to younger generations. The Museum of Rural History and Popular Art in the Greek village of Arolithos includes two old traditional houses which represent rural life, architecture and decoration of people in areas around Crete during the 19th century. - Read the entire article: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/10/20/cretan-village-hosts-museum-of-greek-rural-history/#sthash.Bju9TPsT.dpuf

PAVLOS VRELLIS, MUSEUM OF GREEK HISTORY IN WAX EFFIGIES Visit website through the above link and tour museum online. Introduction  I would like to thank those who preserved my religion, my language and my nationality so that I can be a Christian and Greek.  The love and worship I had, since I was a little boy, to the heroes of the pre-revolution and the war of independence of 1821 turned to love and admiration for the heroes after them. Those who got slaughtered, hanged, flayed alive and humiliated so that now we can enjoy this place free of slavery.             This little nation has shown its bravery on many occasions. We replaced the javelin with the flintlock or the contemporary gun and cried out loud to all nations on earth: ‘Hellas never dies’. To pay tribute to and out of love and faith for the anonymous and famous heroes, I made this wax Museum of Greek History in Bizani village, 12 km away from th...

THE GREEKS OF CAIRO - published in the GreekNewsAgenda.gr on June 24, 2014 The Greeks of Cairo is a photo exhibition by Paul Kozalidis and Athena Casole. . . . and is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art Mahmoud Mukhtar. . .  The exhibition is the main event of the Greek-Egyptian Summer Cultural Week and is an initiative by the Greek Consulate in Cairo in cooperation with the Benaki Museum and the Greek Cultural Center based in Cairo. Hitherto, the Greek Diaspora in Egypt has been mainly associated with the Greeks of Alexandria.  What is unique about this exhibition is that it sheds light to the significant, however, less known Greek community of Cairo and the fact that it depicts aspects of their everyday life.  . . . . The project will also be exhibited at the Benaki Museum in Greece. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

New website for THE GREEK MUSEUM - The Center for Greek American Heritage in New York. Brought to my attention by Katherine R. Boulukos on Facebook.

Hellenic Museum of Michigan " As part of its mission, the Museum will chronicle the struggles, triumphs and contributions of a vibrant Greek immigrant community’s journey to Michigan. Their legacy will be recorded and preserved through artifacts, oral histories, documents and photographs. This rich heritage of extraordinary Greek- Americans, will be passed on from generation to generation."

ETHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF THRACE " The Ethnological Museum of Thrace was founded with the purpose of preserving historical memory in the wider region of Thrace and is a self-funded organization.   Since 1899 it has been operating in Alexandroupolis in a leased, stone-built neoclassical building that dates from 1899. The Museum is open for the public since October 2002.  It was self financed project   and at times sponsored by the Stauros Niarhos Foundation and the Ministry of Culture. Τ he Ethnological Museum of Thrace is a living cell where people can learn about the folk culture and the customs of Thrace, a place that will connect tradition and the memory contained within it with the concerns of modern society. The purpose of the museum is to study, project, and promote the Thracian culture. The Museum is aims for its place to be a motive for re-evaluation of tradition.  The exhibits where organized in such a way so that the visitor can form a full picture...

FOLKLORE AND NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM - GEORGIOS KOMNIDES View photographs and watch video tour Nea Chili, Alexandroupoli Regional Unit of Evros, East Macedonia and Thrace Region, Greece

Barbayannis Ouzo Museum "The Ouzo Barbayannis family has been passionately pursuing perfection in the taste of ouzo and preserving the traditional distillation techniques for five generations. As a result, the Barbayannis name is identified throughout the world for its prime ouzo, the finest Greek liquor beverage. Today, in the picturesque settlement of Plomari, Lesvos , technology harmoniously co-exists with history and tradition. The Ouzo Museum was founded to express the love and passion the Barbayannis family has for the production of ouzo. The Ouzo Museum is located next to the modern, privately-owned distilleries of the Barbayannis ouzo production facilities. In the museum visitors can see the original equipment used to bottle and label the famous Ouzo Barbayanni Blue, as well as the first alembic, constructed in 1858 in Constantinople, used for testing century-old secrets and techniques, and to compose the recipes of the Barbayannis family." Note:  Brough...