THE ARMENIANS OF WORCESTER

by Pamela Apkarian-Russell

A pictorial review of the first Armenian community in America in Worcester, Mass. This is where the Armenians founded the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Protestant Church, the first Armenian churches in America.

The book takes a look back to the old country. The Armenians left behind religious persecution and the suffering of two genocides. The Turks still do not acknowledge the murder of 2 million people. This denial of the Armenian Genocide persists due to strategic and economic reasons.

They journeyed from Armenia to America where they worked, played, and tried to make sense of what had happened to them. In Worcester they were free to make a new life. Through illustrations such as family photos, postcards, sheet music, ephemera, and personal possessions like a beaded bag this book chronicles over 100 years of a people who suffered, came to a new land, and adapted to new ways. Trolley rides, picnics, plays: it is a journey back to when our grandparents were young.