Queens College Sociology Professor Nicholas Alexiou launched an innovative oral history project on Jan. 24, that collects and records the stories of Greek immigrants and their lives in New York City between 1965 and 1980, the second massive wave of migration from Greece to the US. Alexiou hopes to expand his archive in the future, which is currently the only one of its kind concerning the Greek American population of Astoria.
Astoria is currently the second largest city in Greek population besides Athens, Greece. After his research and interviews with some 24 Greek Americans, Alexiou noted that the US born Greek Americans are larger in numbers than foreign-born members of the Greek community and wishes to draw attention on the everyday people and how they contributed into shaping the Greek community.
According to nydailynews.com, the launch event on Jan. 24, was attended by many members of the Greek American community including Georgios Iliopoulos, Consul General of Greece in NY, Alexandra Kavouras, Queens College student and Greek Club president, and Panos Adamopoulos, entrepreneur and president of the Athenian Association of Astoria.
The newly conducted research aims to shed light on the community’s past and attract the interest of younger Greek Americans in their heritage and roots. The research project was funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Both the research and interviews are available on the project’s website: www.qc.cuny.edu/greekoralhistory.
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