Atlanta Metropolis Explores Roots at Hellenic Genealogy Workshop

Atlanta Metropolis Explores Roots at Hellenic Genealogy Workshop

Rye Beach, NH—On Saturday, August 13th, Annunciation Cathedral held a capacity-crowd workshop on Hellenic genealogy in the Kartos ballroom of its stunning Thalia N. Carlos Hellenic Community Center as part of a yearlong series of celebratory centennial events. Attendees came from as far away as South Carolina to learn about techniques for researching Hellenic heritage during this daylong session. Researchers of all ages enrolled in this session sponsored by the Cathedral's History and Archives Committee, Parish Council, and Hellenic Historical and Genealogical Association.

Lunchtime individual questions.
Photos by Christos Papoutsy.

Expertly organized by Event Committee members Ms. Joyce Dove, Ms. Angela Economy, Mr. Stephen Georgeson, Ms. Joanne Jones, Dr. Victor Polizos, and Event Chair Mrs. JoAnn Stewart, the workshop continued the parish's interest in researching and recording local history. In 2002 the cathedral established its History and Archives Committee and began a number of ongoing projects, among them oral history interviews. Under the direction of George Macrenaris, the community has videotaped 34 oral interviews with parishioners who have shared their stories of growing up in Atlanta. The community also has converted older VHS videotapes of cathedral events to DVD and has developed a temperature- and humidity-controlled archives for its old documents, photos, and other ephemera.

The genealogy workshop, titled "Introduction to Hellenic Genealogy," was led by Mary Papoutsy, founder of Hellenic Historical and Genealogical Association (HHGA), a member affiliate of the National Genealogical Society. Topics covered in the first half of the two-part session included general guidelines for U.S.-based research, helpful websites, locating documents in the U.S., patterns of naming, and transliteration. Following lunch, Part Two delved into research in Greece: decoding Greek handwriting, how to prepare for the trip, finding repositories of relevant documents, and tips to improve one's chances of success. "Introduction to Hellenic Genealogy" is the only program of its kind in the U.S., designed to meet the specific needs of research into Hellenic ancestry.

Mary Papoutsy leads workshop.

Participants received packets of genealogy articles and research aids, courtesy of the "Genealogy Day" committee of Annunciation Cathedral, the Parish Council, and HHGA. During the luncheon recess and following the power-point presentations of the workshop, Mrs. Papoutsy answered questions about individual genealogical research efforts. At the conclusion of the workshop and question-and-answer period, Dr. Victor Polizos, representing the Event Committee and parish community, presented Mrs. Papoutsy with two books: a limited edition publication of AHEPA titled, Tribute, in honor of the AHEPA contribution to Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park; a historical album about the history of Atlanta titled, Atlanta, Then and Now.

Event committee poses with presenter

For more information about the History and Archives Committee of Annunciation Cathedral, visit the committee's webpages at the URL http://www.atlgoc.org/historycommittee2.html
or its entry on the Preservation of American Hellenic History website at http://www.pahh.com/hac/index.html .

To learn more about HHGA, visit its webpages hosted by Hellenic Communication Service at http://www.helleniccomserve.com/genealogy.html .

Workshop participants

Dr. Victor Polizos presents gift of
appreciation.

Presentation segment

Presenter poses with Moraitakis family

Set-up

Workshop participants

Lunchtime individual questions

Introduction by Stephen Georgeson

(Posted initially 24 August 2005; reformatted 20-21 March 2014.)

HCS encourages readers to view other articles and releases in our permanent, extensive archives at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/contents.html.