In addition to Women’s History Month, March is Greek American Heritage Month! While WWAMI states may not be known for their Greek communities like other U.S. states, our states all were influenced by the Greek immigrants who moved here and established lasting communities.
Greek immigrants could be found in Wyoming beginning around the start of the 20th century, when immigrants from across Europe immigrated to the area to work on the railroads and the mines. Cheyenne still holds an annual Greek Festival. You can listen to a talk hosted by the Wyoming State Archives: Greek in Wyoming: Immigration, Community & Cultural Preservation.
In 1900, it was estimated there were just 20 residents in Montana who were Greek. In 1956, Missoula saw the establishment of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, which is still operating today. Butte is well known for the diversity of immigrant communities that grew when mining was king, and the Greek community was well-represented in the city. In 1900, Butte hosted one of just five Greek vice-consuls in the United States. You can learn more about Vice Consul George Scholomiti via this article and audio recording.
Greek immigrants to Spokane often arrived to work for the railroads and then began establishing their own farms in the Spokane Valley. By the 1940s, Spokane hosted a Greek American Social Club. You can learn read about immigrant diversity in the Spokane Valley in this article from the Spokane Valley Museum.
Many Greeks immigrants found themselves in Seattle at the turn of the 20th century, often living in the Queen Anne, Wallingford, and Pike neighborhoods. Many Greek immigrants to Seattle went into the restaurant industry. If you’ve visited Pike Place Market, you’ve probably walked by the Athenian and it’s big neon sign. The restaurant was opened in 1909 by the Pappadakis brothers. If you haven’t visited, you might still know the restaurant from its inclusion in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. You can learn more about Greek heritage in Washington state by visiting the viritual Greeks in Washington museum.
Pocatello, Idaho, hosted the state’s largest Greek population in 1910, with about 35% of the state’s Greek immigrant community living in Bannock County. Like many immigrants coming to the Intermountain West, they arrived looking for work on the railroads. Across the U.S., Greek immigrants faced discrimination and violence, often influenced by derogatory stereotyping. Greeks in Idaho were not immune to this discrimination, which was often exasperated by the railroad companies taking advantage of Greek immigrants’ limited English proficiency and desperation for work. The railroad companies at times hired Greek immigrants to work as strike breakers, pitting them against U.S. born workers and labor unions. You can read about Greek immigrant labor experience in the Intermountain West and Idaho in this article by Helen Papanikolas. While not from Idaho, the experiences of Greek immigrants in the Intermountain Region played a pivotal role in U.S. labor history. You can read about Elias Spantidakis who was killed by government militiamen in April 1914 during a strike at a Colorado coal mine.
While there is not a significant Greek diaspora in Alaska, there is a strong sense of community. Evstratii Delarov, a Greek from Macedonia, was working for the Russian maritime fur trade when what is now Alaska was under Russian control. He is considered the first de facto governor of Alaska. Greek immigrants began moving to Alaska in the early 1900s, finding work in fishing, mining, and the railroads. Many of those immigrants started in Seattle before moving north for new opportunity. You can read about one of those immigrants, John Balios, from the Cook Inlet Historical Society.