Usually, we historians talk about the past but of course we always think about the future as well. The circumstances under which people develop today are very different compared to the ones when the returning phenomenon occurred in the 20^th century. We live in an age where communication is globalized. People travel a lot. Moving from one country to the other is no longer a doomsday decision, like it was in the past. People are more flexible, moving from one place to another is not for ever but for a certain period of time. From this point of view I’m not sure if we will see many people returning to Greece. Actually, I don’t believe we will. It is certain that now we can see people moving a lot and this process will deepen. Movement is in both directions. Many Greeks come back to Greece for a limited period of time but also, many Greeks leave. This is very obvious in the academic sector. What do I mean – American scientists make researches in Greece and many Greek professors in Greek universities leave to teach in American schools. I think this movement and flexibility will develop more and more. Let us not even mention that we live in an age where one can be living in Greece but working in the US.

If we go back in time, when did Greek emigration towards the US start and how many emigration waves can we track throughout the history?

Greek emigration towards the US started towards the end of the 19^th century. Some of first registered emigrants are from the 80’s of the 19^th century. This doesn’t mean that there were no emigrants before that but it was rare. We can speak of mass emigration in the 1890 and the peak of Greek emigrants in the US is at the beginning of the 20^th century. This is also the first Greek emigrant wave towards the US. Of course, when we speak of waves it is conditionally because the movement never stops. Simply, during some historic points we have an increase of the number of Greeks, who leave for America. The same way we have an increase of emigration during the first 2 decades of the 20^th century, there is also a more frequent emigration after the end of the Second World War and more specifically in the 50’s and 60’s of the 20^th century. Those are actually the two big emigration waves – the first 20 years of the 20^th century and after that in the 50’s and 60’s. The main factor, which divides emigration into those two waves, is the US legislature. In 1924 the US emigration laws change and the quotas are introduced, according to which each country has a right for a certain number of emigrants in the US.

The result from this change is that Greek emigration towards the US stops. So after 1924, we can see a decrease in emigration. After the end of the Second World War and mainly during the 50’s, the US legislature changes again. This time a law is enforced about people who have settled down outside the US due to the war. This way, another opportunity comes along and many young Greeks leave for America. Of course, this is a period in which Greeks leave also for Australia, Germany but emigration to the US is the most massive one. In other words, Greek emigration towards the US does not stop during the 20^th century but in the mentioned to periods, the number if people increased. Those two waves form two different generations of Greek emigrants and two different groups of Greek Americans. Very often they confront each other – the newer emigrants with the older ones.

What was the life of Greek emigrants in America? What did they do? What education did they have?