National Herald English Language Edition

Sunday February 23, 2007

Journeys into History and Dreams
By Yannis Sophianos And George Kakarnias
Special to The National Herald

ATHENS – It is not necessary for someone to have had the experience of emigrating and setting out on a long journey to a foreign land to be touched by the documentary, “The Journey: The Greek American Dream,” of director Maria Iliou and historian Alexander Kitroeff.

The experiences it depicts are enough to stir sentiments among Greeks everywhere, since the accounts of immigrants and refugees are deeply rooted in Greek history and consciousness.
This was apparent at the recent screenings of the documentary and photo exhibition at the Benaki Museum, with the touching story of Greek immigrants in the United States drawing a large crowd. There were so many people who came to see the documentary that, according to Ms. Iliou, museum personnel had to arrange for a simultaneous double showing, although even was not enough to accommodate the crowds which flocked to the screening rooms daily.
Viewers from all age groups – from school-age children to senior citizens who had personally experienced the difficulties of immigration – left the room misty-eyed, offering the finest reviews for the film they had just seen, and for the people who helped produce it. Mrs. Iliou discussed her inspiration to film a documentary on this subject.
“Chance, or better yet, fate and the magic of slices of daily life contained in these images, as seen in the old, forgotten photos and film, led me to work on this documentary and photo exhibition. The sudden opportunity of a Fulbright award brought me to New York three years ago, and a series of coincidences led me to the archives of various cities across the United States, where I discovered forgotten images of Greek immigrants in America, locked away in some back room. The material was so breathtaking that I could not stop thinking about it,” she said.
“Personal stories, like my father’s memories from when he came to America and sold tobacco in the 1950’s, and the faces in the photos filled with a mixture of sadness and hope, along with the belief that an ethnic group’s conscience is very important and should not be allowed to be lost, set me on an adventure in research and travels from city to city across America. Along the way, I met Alexander Kitroeff, who studied my findings and served as a valuable advisor, along with coworkers and sponsors from America and Greece who strongly and faithfully supported this quest,” she said.
“Alexander and I wanted to tell a story about Greek immigrants coming to America, through the use of never-before-seen visual footage retrieved from archives across America. As the documentary and exhibition slowly began to take shape, the material itself, and the story it tells, revealed an idea that was always present inside of us, but only just now began to formulate. The never-before-seen photos and film clips restored our lost conscious, but also allowed us to look at both the present and future in a different light, revealing something to us: acceptance of differences should not give rise to fear, but can prove to be a valuable thing in a society that knows how to adapt,” she added.

“The most touching thing of all is that most Greeks of the Diaspora, who now reside in Greece, and who saw the documentary, asked me how I was able to express what they experienced and what they felt. They also identify themselves with what Professor Dan Georgakas (director of Hellenic Studies at Queens College) says in the documentary, when he describes his feelings upon returning home; the only difference is that he was born in Detroit. The point is, he considers Greece to be his home, and when he goes to the Peloponnese, he feels he is returning home, even if, technically, it’s not his home,” Ms. Iliou said.
Toward the end of the film, Martha Klironomou describes a sense of loss upon her return to Greece, when she says that she not only came to understand where her parents had come from, but also when she saw her grandmother sitting in the yard and looking at a photo album, suffering because her children were so far away. In the documentary, Ms. Klironomou said that she was never able to overcome the loss she felt at never having an opportunity to get to know her grandmother better.
“They tell me that it was a very big relief that things which were never said before had a chance to be aired, and when they saw bits of truth throughout the documentary which they were not used to hearing. Prime examples are Ku Klux Klan and the xenophobia in the 1920’s United States, which had affected many people and caused them to suffer, including the Greeks. AHEPA, the Greek American community’s largest organization, was formed in response to bigotry and the KKK,” Ms. Iliou said.
“Many people – primarily the older generation – identified fully with the period of assimilation, while others were moved by the photo of Archbishop Iakovos marching next to Martin Luther King in Alabama,” she added.
The Civil Rights movement, which was a major issue at the time, served as the inspiration for many ethnic groups to begin feeling that they could publicly show their pride for their heritage.
“They were proud before as well,” Ms. Iliou said, “but they were hesitant to publicly display their pride. It was around that time that Nicholas Gage wrote an article in the New York Times, ‘It’s Chic to be Greek.’ You would never have dared to say that in the 1930’s.”
The documentary projects the struggles these people went through to be included in the melting pot of American society. The film describes the difficulties immigrants faced: the prejudice, hatred and often violence which followed, without ignoring examples of humanity, inclusion and success.
This film received favorable reviews for both its artistic and its scholarly composition.
Ms. Iliou, Dr. Kitroeff and others involved with the project managed to combine never-before-seen footage from unknown archives, and tell a story at the same time: the story of Greek immigrants in America through the short accounts of the film’s speakers.
“None of these people talk about the larger historical picture that Alexander discusses, or which the photos depict, but instead give their own personal accounts, which are conveyed in a manner that is more direct and genuine. Thus, there is a connection between these small accounts and the big picture,” Ms. Iliou said..
Although she did not want to compare one era to another, since each era is unique, Ms. Iliou says it is crucial for people of Greek heritage to learn their history, and to understand what their immigrant forbears underwent in a sometimes hostile foreign land, in order to be more tolerant and human towards foreigners.
“Anything that we ourselves accomplished, we did through a combination of confirmation and respect for our otherness. And so it becomes important for a people – once they have picked up the gauntlet in a foreign land – to have that experience and outlook to be able to accept immigrants in their own land and not fear them because they are different,” she said.

The documentary and the accompanying photo exhibition is the result of three years of work by Ms. Iliou, Dr. Kitroeff and their colleagues, documenting the history of Greek immigrants in the U.S. from the start of the 19th Century until 1980 (the DVD will be released this Fall, followed by a book set to circulate next year).
The structure of the film and photo exhibition is the same. They chart the history of Greek immigration in America, dividing it into three main periods. The first period, “Immigrants,” details the mass exodus of Greek immigrants and their arrival in the United States from the end of the 19th Century through the 1920’s. The second period, “Becoming Americans,” spans the period from 1920 to 1960, when the U.S. Government began to curb immigration and undertook a large-scale effort to assimilate immigrant groups. And the third period, “The Revival of Ethnicity,” covers the period from 1960 to 1980, during which a wide propagation and recognition of cultural roots and traditions of every ethnic community – including the Greek American community – took place.
The first scenes of the documentary show New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty, since these were the first things immigrants saw when they arrived in the United States after a long and arduous voyage. A scene from Ellis Island follows. All those were admitted into the country encountered a completely different world from the one they had known in Greece.
The next scenes include images from the lives of immigrant workers on the railroads and mines, where they attempted to earn a living under very harsh and sometimes dangerous circumstances.
The documentary brings the Greek American role in the labor movement to life, and the first businesses they set up out of their drive to succeed and achieve something.
World War II and Mussolini’s defeat in Greece reflected favorably upon Greek immigrants. With the arrival of Archbishop Iakovos and his support of the Civil Rights movement; the overcoming of racism; and a movement to embrace their heritage, Greek immigrants began to re-embrace their own ethnic identity.
The documentary ends in the year 1974. “In 1974, Greek Americans come of age because, for the first time, they start to think like American citizens and like an organized community, and demand an embargo on sales of U.S. weapons to Turkey, citing the action as unconstitutional,” Ms. Iliou pointed out.
A major part of the documentary is devoted to accounts from important figures in the Greek American community like Senator Paul Sarbanes and novelist George Pelecanos.
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Charles Ries also had a positive reaction to the documentary: “It’s a fantastic film. It’s a touching account of great heroism and the success stories of Greek immigrants in America. It speaks about how the Greek Americans contributed to the United States, as well as to their families back home. I think Paul Sarbanes’ statement (‘I never thought that my Greek identity was something that I had to overcome. I always considered that my Greek heritage and the values my parents taught me contributed to American society’) was the ideal end to a very good film,” he told the Herald.
Along with the Benaki Museum, the Hellenic American Union and the non-profit organization Proteas also supported this project, Ms. Iliou said she wanted to thank the Jaharis Family Foundation, the Lucy Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Public Benefit Foundation, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the John F. Kostopoulos Foundation, the Catsimatidis Foundation and the National Bank of Greece for helping to make the project possible.
“I would also like to thank a long list of people from the Greek American community in New York, including Antonis Diamataris and the National Herald for their invaluable assistance, and many other people who helped me in this endeavor. I truly felt the presence of the Greek American community next to me, and this is something that we don’t experience in Greece,” Ms. Iliou said.