Massachusetts

by Hrag Vartanian The true Armenian community began to form in Worcester in 1867 shortly after the settlement of Garo from Bitlis, a servant of missionary George C. Knapp. Oral history suggests that while working at the missionary's home, one of the servants, an Irish laundrywoman, convinced him that working in local factories could make him more than his scant monthly wage of 75 cents. Garo would soon join the ranks of the emerging working class at a remarkable $1.75 a day. Other Armenians flocked to the town with hopes of sharing in the American dream.

by David Zenian On the top floor of the Viru Hotel in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, outdated listening devices, a small bed, a pair of boots, notebooks, and an old winter coat are the only reminders of an era which the Estonians refer to as the 50 long years of Soviet occupation.

by David Zenian Ruslan Arutunian was one of the very few Armenians who supported the Lithuanian independence movement in 1988 and almost every night joined thousands of people demonstrating for an end to Soviet "occupation." Marching alongside was his wife, a Lithuanian, who at the age of two in 1949, was deported to Siberia with her parents after being rounded up in the middle of night and accused of anti-Soviet activities.

by Hrag Vartanian Most observers agree that it is the intellectual focus of the Boston community that gives it its uniqueness in the Diaspora. The region boasts five institutions that study and preserve the past and are committed to making it available for future generations. Each fosters a different aspect of the Armenian heritage but combine to create the Armenian community's cerebral flair. SETTING THE STANDARD NAASR's mission to educate

In a state of six million, the Armenian community can count on three individuals that constitute their political voice in the state's legislative bodies. The senior ranking Armenian American official, Senator Linda Melconian, has over three decades of political experience and is the highest-ranking female legislator in the state. Two other Armenian Americans, Representatives Rachel Kaprielian and Peter Koutoujian, have joined her within the last decade on Beacon Hill. SENATOR LINDA J. MELCONIAN, MAJORITY LEADER OF THE HOUSE

by Hrag Vartanian In 1865 a Boston Post editorial declared, "Well-informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value." Little did the editors of the now defunct paper know a century and a half later those wires now link Boston to the world and structure the modern information age.

by David Zenian When Procter & Gamble, one of the world's largest names in home products such as Tide and Folger's coffee, decided to mark the fifth anniversary of its booming business in the Baltics, company executives turned to Raffi Kharajanian and two other artists to collaborate in the production of a promotional compact disk.

by Hrag Vartanian Yerevan's Mayor Edmond Avakian was the only Soviet mayor to respond to a strange request from the City of Cambridge's Peace Commission to establish sister city ties across the iron curtain. Mayor Avakian encouraged the pairing but made it clear in his letter that while Yerevan is a capital city, Cambridge is, well...only Cambridge.

by David Zenian Every community in the vast Armenian Diaspora traces its roots to an event or a person, and for those living in Estonia today, that person is Khatchadour Abovian, the famous novelist and educator who replaced classical Armenian, or Grabar, with the vernacular as a tool to make literature more understandable to the ordinary citizen.

by Hrag Vartanian From the early years of industrialist Moses Gulesian to Star Supermarket mogul Stephen Mugar Armenian American business leaders have come forward to lend a hand to the Armenian community. Among the earlier generation of Armenian American businessmen in Massachusetts are Ara Barmakian and Michael Gulbankian.

by Hrag Vartanian Home of the first Armenian Studies Chair in the United States, Boston's universities continue to attract the brightest from around the world. In contrast, New York journalist Arthur Lubow in the 1950's remarked, "Diversity wasn't always cultivated along the banks of the Charles." Today, Boston's institutions of higher learning are working to integrate a wider consciousness into the city's universities as ethnic groups become active components of campus life.