As Dr. Kitroeff reported here in the pages of The National Herald, ‘The Need to Study Greek America’, was the first presentation of an all Greek-American panel at an American History Conference (January 14-20^th). Among those panelists, along with Dr. Kitroeff, were Fevronia Soumakis, Constantine Hatzidimitriou, and Yiorgo Topalidis. And, as such things are measured in academic terms, this is clearly a significant advance. But this is all, and I must use a technical phrase…basically its only… ‘university stuff.’

Recognition by fellow university-based academics is certainly a fine thing if you are a history teacher at a university…or trying to be such a person. Yet truthfully, this immediately reminded me, imperfectly I’m afraid, of the childhood ditty my Yiayias used to sing to me in Greek about the cat that went to the dance, saw that the other cats had cut their tails so…the cat cut its off too!

Okay, so Greeks are now officially allowed to be discussed in terms of authentic American history. But wait – didn’t Greek-Americans receive official recognition within the American history establishment via Theodore Saloutos’ publications as well as his role as a leader in the overall field of immigration studies? Why else would there be two awards given in Saloutos’ name? The ‘Theodore Saloutos Memorial Award for the best book on agricultural history in the United States’, as well as the ‘The Immigration and Ethnic History Society’s’ Theodore Saloutos Book Award’. This $2,000 award is presented annually at the IEHS banquet for the book judged best on any aspect of the immigration history of the United States.

As I understand it, Saloutos’ study, ‘They Remember America: The Story of the Repatriated Greek-Americans’ (which is still in print by the way) was literally the first of its kind of study in American immigration history. Whatever the case may now be…I recall another conference… held in 1976 at one of the University of Chicago auditoriums. It was a special meeting of the Modern Greek Studies Association. The theme was ‘Greeks in the United States’. Each of the various panelists offered papers on specific aspects of the Greek-American experience. It seemed as if all the leading researchers and writers of the day were present such as Helen Zeese Papanikolas, Andrew T. Kopan, Charles C. Moskos, Eva C. Topping, Alexander Karanikas, Alice Scourby, John Anton, E.P. Panagopoulos, and so many many others. Professor Theodore Saloutos was scheduled to give the keynote paper but his failing health prevented him from attending.

For those well-read in Greek-American historical studies these names will immediately bring to mind the various cultural and historical contributions made in the documentation of nearly the full sweep of the Greek experience in North America since colonial times.

As the papers were read the general spirit of the event turned into a border kind of collective celebration. It soon became quite a boisterous event. Elderly individuals in the audience began to jump up after a paper or an entire panel had concluded. They would shout out how they had come to America penniless and were now well-off. These declarations were always met with further shouts and always lengthy applause. It some sense this witnessing, if you will, underscored the historical events offered in the various papers. Since the attendees began to cheer after such spontaneous personal declarations, they continued.

At one point Professor John A. Petropulos (1929-1999) of Amherst College, and at that moment in time, President of the MGSA, during one of the breaks from the presentations stood center stage and spoke to the audience. Dr. Petropulos, a very refined gentleman, said basically that the Modern Greek Studies Association was a professional academic organization and that such personal declarations were inappropriate. Dr. Petropulos when on a bit longer with why such professional events occur and ended with his noting the presence of a number of graduate and/or soon-to-be graduate students in attendance and that these persons were the promise of future studies. Dr. Petropoulos was not incorrect, technically, but he absolutely missed the overall feeling that was voiced several times that Greeks in the United States had arrived and succeeded in their American quest.

I frequently think of this 1976 meeting – not because of what Dr. Petropoulos had to say, but rather what Professor Charles C. Moskos (1934-2008) later declared. Regardless of Dr. Petropoulos’ admonitions, as the meeting continued, Dr. Moskos, later took the stage and spoke from his heart. He basically said that Greek-Americans should not settle for just having a course or two taught here and there, on and off, at this or that university.

Rather, we should finally have the full history of Greeks housed in one academic department, where the Classical Era Greek experience through the Hellenistic, through the Byzantine, through the Tourkokratia until the Modern Greeks as well as those of the Greek-Americans and the entire diaspora could all be finally found together – in one unified department, all taught in an integrated manner. As I recall, the cheering he received lasted quite a long time. I added my shouts of agreement to all the others.

I audio-recorded this event, along with my koumbaro Kirk Kekatos, focusing on this Conference’s official speakers. My original audio-recordings were deposited at Indiana University’s Archives of Traditional Music (see call number 80-083-F University Chicago Symposium). Nevertheless, I still, I cannot honestly recall if I recorded Professor Moskos’ declaration. But I do recall that I cheered long and loud with all the other attendees.

Dr. Kitroeff as well as all the other scholars who study and write on Greek-American history undoubtedly would wish that the ‘Moskos’ Proposal’ had been enacted. And I think it should be pointed out that it was not just the academics who cheered this proposal but that the general audience also joined in their support. I have absolutely no doubt every Greek-American wishes the very same thing.

DNA PROVES OUR BELIEFS

And now nearly half-a-century on we have the full backing of forensics for our ethnic pride. As Ann Gibbons reported years ago about modern Hellenes, “the Greeks really do have near-mythical origins… ancient DNA reveals [and] analysis connects Greeks to the famed Mycenaeans and Minoans…When the researchers compared the DNA of modern Greeks to that of ancient Mycenaeans, they found a lot of genetic overlap. Modern Greeks share similar proportions of DNA from the same ancestral sources as Mycenaeans, although they have inherited a little less DNA from ancient Anatolian farmers and a bit more DNA from later migrations to Greece.” (See her full article in Science August 2, 2017.)

So, all the anti-Greek claims made since the 1800s can now be put to rest. As modern science demonstrates we are – without question the descendants of our ancient forebears, as we have always claimed. To be sure various academics, such as Dr. Constantine Hatzidimitriou, one of the recent panelists, have been steadfast quite literally for years in their citation of the literature that demonstrates that Greeks in the past have always been well aware and vocal concerning their identity as descendants of the Ancient Greeks.

Dr. Kitroeff is nobody’s fool. So, if he is asking for Greek-American history to be assigned the status of a recognized integrated field of study…that’s probably all we can get, at this moment in time. And there is no doubt that every member of the Modern Greek Studies Association wishes the same. I have no doubt whatsoever that Dr. Kitroeff and all the panelists at the recent meeting wish for the realization of Moskos’ Proposal. My question is why are we waiting? Why?