Historic Somerville

 

Preserving the Past for Our Future 

Historic Somerville Inc.
9 Knowlton St.
Somerville, MA 02145

eschofield2014@gmail.com

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  • Mission
  • About Us
    • Membership form 2019
    • Meeting Location/Contact Us
  • Online Membership Renewal
  • Lecture and Event Tickets
  • HS Fall 2019 Lectures and Events
    • Ghosts of Somerville 2019 Photos
    • Henry Hansen and the Battle of Iwo Jim by Dan Breen
    • Veterans Day Commemorative Event 2019
    • Winter Holiday Party 2019
  • Pictures and Past Events
    • HS SPRING 2019 LECTURES
    • JANUARY 3RD & 5TH, 2019: Byron DeLear
    • 243rd flag raising 2019
    • Lt. Col Enoch Woodhouse
    • 2019 Revere and our Colonial Fair
    • May Preservation Month Activities
    • May 12th_East Somerville_s Tucked Away Architectural Treasures
    • May 23rd_Conservation Project Talk and Tour of the Milk Row Cemetery
    • June 9th_Interpreting the Past for the Present. The Evolution of Boston’s Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
    • Prospect Hill Tower, Milk Row Cemetery and Powder House 2019 Tour Schedules
    • Winter Holiday Party-2018
    • Fall 2018 Events and Lectures
    • Cresap's Rifles
    • Docent Tours Summer-Fall 2018
    • Ghosts of Somerville 2018
    • The Yankee Division in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive WWI
    • Veterans Day Memorial Parade 2018
    • Veterans Day 2018
    • SUMMER 2018 EVENTS
    • Ed Gordon: Top Ten Favorite Historic Residences in Somerville
    • An Afternoon with Kevin Dua
    • Spring 2018 Events
    • 242nd Flag Raising
    • Ghosts of Somerville
    • Veterans Day 2017
    • HS Lecture: The Yankee Division, Dan Breen
    • Winter Holiday Party
    • Docent Tours Fall 2017
    • Spring 2017 Lecture Series and Events
    • Bulfinch and the Barrell Mansion, Joseph Cornish
    • Inventing the Charles River, Karl Haglund
    • Revisiting the Flag at Prospect Hill - Byron DeLear
    • Spring 2016 lectures
    • The Jews of Somerville and greater Boston
    • Milk Row Cemetery Tour
    • The History of Somerville Lumber
    • Fall 2015 Local History Lectures
    • From Smyrna to Belleau Wood and the Second Battle of the Marne by Dr. Daniel Breen
    • Charles Williams Jr.: Somerville's Connection to the First Telephone
    • Somerville Past and Present: Images of a Century of Change by Jeff Myers
    • Boston and the Civil War; Hub of the Second Revolution
    • My Life in the First African-American Unit of the Air Force
    • History of Agriculture in Somerville
    • Art Glass of the Union Glass Co.
    • Fall 2014 Events
    • Friday, Dec. 12th, 7-9PM, Winter Holiday Party
    • Tuesday, November 11th, 2:30PM, Veterans' Day Remembrance Ceremony
    • Sunday, Nov. 9th, 2-4PM, talk by Prof. Dan Breen, The March to Laurel Hill in 1864
    • Saturday, Oct.25th 3-5PM, Mr. Allen's Tidal Powered Rope Walk
    • Thursday, Oct. 23, 5-6:30PM, Milk Row Cemetery Docent-led Tour
    • Ghosts of Somerville 2014 pictures!
    • Milk Row Cemetery Docent Led Tours
    • Mystic River Roundtable with Richard Beinecke
    • Defiance of the Patriots lecture
    • 2013 Holiday Wreath Donations
    • The Spirit of Somerville: Booksigning by Eugene Brune
    • Struggles Unceasing: The POW Experience of the Somerville Guard in the Civil War
    • Ghosts of Somerville 2013
    • For Better or Worse: 19th C. Tales Along the Middlesex and Washington, D.C. Canals
    • The Better Homes Movement in Somerville, 1922-1930
    • Workshop: Repair Historic Windows
    • The Somerville I Didn't Know: The Influence of Africans, West-Indians and African Americans on Somerville, 1630-1860.
    • May is Preservation Month - Events 2013
    • The Mystic River: March 24th Lecture
    • Raising the Roof and More
    • First Flag - January 1st, 2013
    • The Struggles of the 39th Massachusetts Volunteers
    • Somerville: Haven for Ingenious Minds
    • Militia versus Regulars in America's War of Independence
    • The Menace of the Three Decker
    • Patriots Day 2012
    • Lafayette in Somerville (Charlestown Beyond the Neck) 1824-25
    • 236th Raising of the Grand Union Flag 2012
    • April 18th, 2011 Patriots Day Colonial Fair at Foss Park
    • 2010: Paul Revere and Colonial Fair in Somerville's Foss Park
    • Ghosts of Somerville Open Cemetery Tour 2010
    • Ghosts of Somerville 2009
    • Ghost of Somerville 2006-08
    • Alan Hoffman Lecture on General Lafayettes Tour of America 1824-25
    • Reenactments
    • Costumes for 1776
  • The Civil War Monument
    • Reading the Monument
    • West Side of the Monument
    • The South Side of the Monument
    • East Side of the Monument
    • North Side of the Monument
    • The Obelisk
  • Donate
    • The advantages of repairing rather than replacing your historic windows
  • Preservation
  • 2018-19 Help Keep Somerville History Alive! Advocacy Opportunities
  • Links Related to Somerville and History
    • The Barrell Mansion on Cobble Hill
    • The Round House
    • The Round House Interior - 1950s-1960s.
    • Greek Immigration to Somerville
    • Soldiers and Sailors Monument
    • American Legion and Vietnam Memorials
    • Spanish War Monument

New Lives in a New Land: Immigration to Somerville & the Greater Boston Area- the Greek Experience

Perhaps the most important project of 2006-2007 was the collaboration between Historic Somerville and the Somerville Museum to produce the exhibition: New Lives in a New Land: Immigration to Somerville & the Greater Boston Area- the Greek Experience and The World of George Dilboy, Greek Immigrant & American Hero. The exhibition opened in early September at the Somerville Museum to rave reviews from historians and art-lovers alike.  If you saw the show, you know the stunning beauty of the Art Deco posters from WWI that decorated the walls.

Catherine Samaras's Story
(by Anthoula Rozakis, her daughter)  

Catherine and her twin sister, Anna, were born to Paraskeve Kakaris and George Samaris in the Somerville home of her mother and father, Theodoros and Yianoula Kakaris. There were no Greek doctors then.  The two baby girls weighed only 4 pounds at birth and were kept near the stove for warmth.  The doctor who came to check on the new mother and twin babies kept his car running in the January cold. Sadly, Anna died in infancy.  Catherine grew up, attended Somerville public schools and the school of the Greek Othodox Church, which perpetuated Greek customs, language and traditions.  During WW II, while attending a family baptism, she met a soldier on leave, Pvt James Anagnostou, who would become her future husband. He had been an illegal immigrant from Greece, but his is another story...

Volunteer Opportunity:

Would you like to work with Historic Somerville to capture the stories of the descendents of the Greek immigrants living in Somerville in either written or oral form? We have several professionals interested in helping, but need an organizer for the project.

Contact us!

Catherine Samaras in Greek costume, early 1900s. 


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Historic Somerville Inc.
9 Knowlton St.
Somerville, MA 02145

eschofield2014@gmail.com

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