And so they came - from the
Peloponnese, Macedonia, the Islands, Asia
Minor -from towns with names like
Paliopanagia, Redesto, Stemnitsa, Gythion,
Karpenission, Kardamila, Andritsaina,
Goumenissa, Tzintzina, Vrondama, Yeraki,
Vitina, Langadia, Tripolis...
They stood on the decks of ships with
their few belongings clustered around them and
watched as their beloved homeland
disappeared into a speck on the horizon. They
had names like Bouzos, Anastasiou, Caroms,
Kalantjopoulos, Chakeres, Petropoulos,
Koumanderakis, Naom, Gianikos, Kapralos,
Alexopoulos, Tsaousis, Kairopoulos,
Papaioannou, Tzanetopoulos, Pathis,
Markopoulos, Mandros, Makris, Kontoyiannis,
Manus, Botsevalis, Tornik- iotis, Papadopoulos,
Duros, Psoras, Kanellos, Petrakis, Barouxis,
Mavromatis, Stamatakos, Golemes, Spantithos,
Davelis, Kehagias, Zaglanis, Pathis, Sariotis,
Psoras, Sofos, Zannis, Kanelis, Kanatas,
Sevdalis, Smerles, Pristouras, Maheras, Pekras,
Prapas, Rorris, Roumeliotis, Kouropoulos,
Freemas, Apostolopoulos, Doufexopoulos,
Kotsivas, Triffon, Vayianopoulos, Karavaselas,
Blezzis, Zissopoulos, Genoozis, Stoycheff, and
Petsef.
Some of these names would be
shortened to Anast, Brown, Demos,
Coumanter, Chase, Karres, Pappas, Zanetos,
Condas, Paul, Tornik, Brooks, Nelson, Markos,
Mattis, Stamas, Sora, Zanes, Vayian, Nelson,
Poulos, Duffis, Karvasales, Bleas, Phillips, and
Cannell to facilitate getting along in an
American business world.
Coming from poverty, they had limited
skills sheepherders, field guards, masons,
carpenters, tailors. They would not find jobs
waiting in those specialties; neither would they
settle in areas where the geography resembled
the land back home. Instead, they would live in
cramped quarters in the inner city districts of
America's largest cities seeking safety in
numbers, and they would settle for jobs as shoe
shine boys, delivery boys, waiters, bartenders,
hotel employees, factory or railroad workers.
The first arrivals were men and boys who
worked to send money back home to the
families in Greece.
As they saved enough money they would
pool their resources and open a restaurant.
Greeks do have a way with food, and the
restaurant business proved to be a good line
work for thousands of first generation Greeks.
It also provided work for thousands more who
were arriving daily -- cousins, brothers, uncles,
koumbaroi. In time, these men would return to
Greece to select brides to bring back to
America to establish the first generation of i
Greek-American families.
