Chicago’s National Hellenic Museum Holds Annual Gala

The National Hellenic Museum (NHM), which is dedicated to collecting, preserving and portraying the legacy of Greek history and culture in America, held its annual gala on Saturday, May 11.

The museum Gala, a reference point for the Greek American community in Chicago and beyond, provides an opportunity to gather together for a night of philanthropy, spectacular auctions, live music, dinner, cocktails and dancing while celebrating and supporting the legacy of Hellenism.

Peter Parthenis Sr., founder of Grecian Delight Foods, Inc., was honored during the festivities for his contribution to the community.

Parthenis founded the company in 1974, and it is still owned and operated by his family. Grecian Delight is a manufacturer and marketer of top quality Greek and Mediterranean food products for the foodservice and retail industries.

Philanthropic support from the NHM 2019 Gala will benefit the tens of thousands of children and adults who visit the NHM every year through field trips, tours and dynamic cultural and historical programs.

The National Hellenic Museum is dedicated to preserving the invaluable memories of the Greek experience in America and the Hellenic legacy. As the largest collection of its kind in the world, the NHM is honored to protect these significant moments of shared history.

The museum will soon unveil the NHM Collections & Archives Portal, which will allow anyone to access museum’s catalogs online, from anywhere in the world. They can view digitized artifacts and archival materials with mapping technology, community-based tagging, educational content, and more.

Founded in Chicago as the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC) in 1983, the HMCC moved to the city’s Greektown neighborhood in 2004 and opened its current location on Halsted Street as the National Hellenic Museum in 2011.

The contemporary four-story building is home to extensive collections, rotating exhibitions, classrooms, and a stunning rooftop view of Chicago. Three floors of galleries explore ancient and modern themes and provide multi-use spaces to host tours, public programs, and private events.

The NHM boasts a priceless repository of more than 20,000 artifacts, photos, historic newspapers, books, and an archive of more than 450 recorded histories. The NHM Collections & Archives serve as a central repository of Greek-American history, now many generations strong.

The Museum celebrates the complete mosaic of the Greek diaspora, including immigrant journeys, and the entire breadth of the American experience for all its Greek immigrants.