Preservation of American Hellenic History
Preservation of American Hellenic History
by Jason C. Mavrovitis
Central to the immigrants' social and spiritual life was St. Eleftherios Greek Orthodox Church at 359 West Twenty-fourth Street. It met the religious needs of many of the first flood of Orthodox immigrants who lived and labored on the West Side in New York City.
Church, language, culture, and food: transplanted, these ingredients of home and life in the cities and villages of the eastern Mediterranean made an immigrant's life bearable in Manhattan. They made possible celebration of religious holidays and family events, and gave the immigrant identity and pride in the Babel that was America.
Between 1916 and 1920, many photographs of the family, especially of Lily with her cousins, were taken at Central Studio on Eighth Avenue. The studio no longer exists. The formal photograph of Eleni and Louie is the equivalent of a wedding portrait. Eleni, a formidable woman, is clothed in a black, fur trimmed silk dress and a veiled velvet hat. Louie, smaller and younger than his bride is in a vested suit and wearing a hat.
Taken in 1917-1921, another photograph is of Lily with two of her cousins, and another photograph is of Lily prepared to attend a costume party. Photographs recorded the arrival of family members to America, and were sent to family that remained behind in the Balkans. They disclose a growing prosperity and assimilation, and reveal immigrants striving to raise their economic and social status. For this family, fashion provided bread for the table so it was natural for them to dress well. They struck the poses of those they sought to emulate.
Another photograph shows Lily as a sophisticate, wearing a fur trimmed jacket, a silk cloche hat, and carrying a black fur muff. With her are her cousins, Hariclea and Zenovios Capidaglis.
Members of the family all worked in the garment district. Lily was trained as a milliner. She made elegant hats, delivering them to the wealthy on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, being directed to the 'tradesmen's entrance.' Eleni was a fine seamstress and dressmaker, and Louie a tailor, designer and dressmaker.
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