The Need for AHEPA in America

Greeks Were Not Always Welcomed....

In Chicago around 1904 Greek immigrants, unaware of labor conditions and largely inexperienced, served as strikebreakers during a strike in Chicago diesel shops. This fueled anti-Greek sentiment among union members. Three Greek immigrants were killed during a riot in 1908 in McGill, Nevada.

On February 21, 1909, a major anti-Greek riot took place in South Omaha, Nebraska. The Greek population was forced to leave the city, while properties owned by Greek migrants were destroyed.

Greeks were viewed with particular contempt in the Mormon stronghold of Utah. The local press characterized them as "a vicious element unfit for citizenship and as ignorant, depraved, and brutal foreigners." Anti-Greek riots occurred in Salt Lake City in 1917 which "almost resulted" in lynching of a Greek immigrant.

Atlanta, Georgia, 1922

In 1922, as a response to the anti-Greek nativist xenophobia by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) was founded, which sought to Americanize the Greek immigrant in America. Its initial mission was to promote the image of Greeks in America, assist them with citizenship and assimilation into American culture, and combat prejudice. During that inaugural meeting, it was decided that AHEPA's purposes would be:

(a) To advance and promote pure and undefiled Americanism among the Greeks of the United States, its Territories and Colonial possessions;

(b) To educate the Greeks in the matter of democracy, and in the matter of the government of the United States;

(d) To promote fraternal sociability;

(e) To practice benevolent aid among this nationality.

The Mother Lodge

The founders of the fraternity were all residents of Atlanta, who conceived the idea of the establishment of an association of mainly citizens of Greek descent, although not limited only to such members. The eight founders of the Order of AHEPA, who were also the members of the first Supreme Lodge of the organization, were Nicholas D. Chotas, James Campbell, Spiro J. Stamos, Harry Angelopoulos, George A. Polos, John Angelopoulos, George Campbell, James Vlass.

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