The Greeks of Berrien County, Michigan

The Berrien County Historical Association (BCHA), Berrien Springs, Michigan, in partnership with the Annunciation and Saint Paraskevi Church and Columbia College, as well as other organizations, is implementing a project entitled, "The Greeks of Berrien County, Michigan". The project studies the settlement patterns and history of the Greeks who resided or vacationed in Berrien County.

The BCHA has received $12,000 in funding through the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment of the Humanities, to conduct the historical research, present three programs to discuss the results of the research, and print a small publication. If the BCHA receives additional funding for the second phase of the project, it will produce and mount a traveling exhibit and print another more extensive publication regarding the Greeks of Berrien County.

Please contact us if you know of anyone of Greek descent or married to a Greek who resided in or spent their summers in Southwestern Michigan.

We are doing oral histories and research regarding this community and would welcome volunteers to help us.

Contact Leo Goodsell by e-mail or phone (269) 471-1202

The BCHA is now researching the history of the Greeks of Berrien Country, starting with the 1910s and 1920s, when the first Greek immigrant settled in the county, to the present. The research includes:

1. the early immigrants who settled in the county, their children and grandchildren

2. the more recent immigrants and their children who came after World War II;

3. the Greeks who bought second homes;

4. and those who came to the resorts in the summer as a respite from crowded Chicago.

Researchers will search census data, immigration and naturalization records, probate records, city, township, and county records, and archival material from museums, libraries, the Greek Orthodox Church and Greek organizations. Photographs and artifacts will be collected and deposited at the Berrien County Museum, for possible use in a future exhibit.

The success of this project is due to the involvement of volunteers, who will be conducting oral histories and assisting with the research under the direction of Leo Goodsell and Dr. Elaine Thomopoulos, Project Directors.

Important is the participation of the Annunciation and Saint Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church, under the leadership of Father Basil Stamas, and President of the Parish Council, Ted Kerhoulas.

Dr. Erin McCarthy's Columbia College Oral History Class students, starting in the fall semester 2002, will be interviewing the Greeks who summered in Michigan. Drs. Gary Land and April Summitt from Andrews University, Berrien Springs, have agreed to conduct interviews and transcribe interviews as part of this project.

The BCHA has also been fortunate to have as volunteer consultants and advisors the following distinguished scholars:

• Dr. Artemis Leontis, Adjunct Professor and Coordinator of Modern Greek, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor;
• Rev. James Bogdan, priest, Ph.D. candidate, and instructor and chair of the Division of Social Sciences at Grand Rapids Community College;
• Gordon Olson, City Historian, Grand Rapids Public Library;
• Steve Frangos, author/editor of books and articles about the Greek-American experience;
• Paul Chardoul, historical consultant and past project director of "The Greeks in Grand Rapids Project";
• Pearl Kastran Ahnen, author of Legends and Legacies (the Greeks in Ann Arbor, Michigan);
• Dr. Charles Moskos, Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and author of Greek Americans: Struggle and Success;
• Dr. George Kourvetaris, Professor of Sociology at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and author/editor of books and articles about the Greek-American experience.

Our evaluator is Dr. Arthur Helweg, Professor of Anthropology at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

For further information, contact Leo Goodsell or Elaine Thomopoulos, Ph. D., project co-directors.