Preservation of American Hellenic History
Preservation of American Hellenic History
by Jason C. Mavrovitis
After the wedding ceremony, James left for Detroit leaving Lily behind to complete her trousseau and to prepare for her departure from Brooklyn. He came for her in late July and they left together for Detroit. To her surprise he took her to a modest, furnished, two-room, fourth floor apartment in a boarding house at 2304 Jean D'Arc Street. A woman named Mrs. Johnson ran it.
Lily was a virtual prisoner. Her husband left each morning requiring her to remain in the flat until his return. She evidently made no friends and became despondent.
After three or four weeks her landlady began to make disparaging comments to Lily about her 'grand' husband. Either in an act of revenge toward the man, or in sympathy for Lily, the landlady took her to a busy downtown Detroit street where Lily found her husband acting the role of a blind beggar. He was a panhandler.
Lily spent that night with Mrs. Johnson, and telephoned her mother the next day, Friday, 1 September 1922. Eleni immediately boarded a train and arrived in Detroit mid-morning on Saturday. She accompanied Mrs. Johnson and Lily to the downtown district to find Lily's husband dressed in a shabby Panama suit, wearing dark glasses and begging. They confronted him. Satisfied that the beggar was indeed James Tsavalas they left for Brooklyn at once.
Lily took up her life again living with her mother and stepfather. She managed the household, cooked and cared for her grandmother.
In the early twentieth century, the social life of a young Greek woman separated from her husband was very limited. Lily and Eleni's primary concern was to avoid scandal in the Greek community. Lily had no hope of receiving a divorce decree from the paternalistic Greek Orthodox Church and therefore no hope for a married life.
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