Area Communities Put Down Roots

WATERTOWN, Mass.--Heading west on Mt. Auburn Street from Cambridge, the scenery undergoes a subtle change. Shops and commercial property remain in full view, but buildings don't obscure the sky and parking lots separate the stores.

This neighboring city has a more traditional character than Cambridge's. There are no young people with purple hair in-line skating near the T station in Watertown Square. In fact, there is no T station--the bus is the best way to get here.

Instead, greeting a visitor is a group of about 30 smiling children exiting a church, excited about the choir practice they have just attended.

"It's interesting. We learn new songs every week," says Meri Galstian, 12, a first soprano.

The youngsters are members of the St. James Armenian Church Junior Choir and Chorus, a group that began in late 1995 and has already received worldwide attention, according to Artur H. Veranian, the choir's maestro and the church's artistic director.

The group performed last October in St. Vartan's Cathedral Church in New York as part of a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of American church choruses, he says.

"The Archbishop of Jerusalem invited three junior choruses from the East Coast," Veranian explains with pride. "They knew of our good reputation."

Other people affiliated with the chorus say that it is instrumental in keeping the community's traditions alive.

"We don't want [the next generation] to forget everything," says Barbara Young, a volunteer who supervises the choral practices. "If they're surrounded by the songs and the liturgy then they'll get used to it."

Young says that members of the senior chorus are in their 50s and 60s so it is important to teach young people the songs of the Armenian Church. The children sing classic European music as well.

"You want your kids to know what Armenian is all about," says Susana Harutunian, mother of three chorus members. "All my kids are singing here."

Sustaining Traditions

Organizations like the St. James Armenian Church on Mt. Auburn Street bear witness to the cultural diversity that the Armenian community has brought to Watertown.

Many Armenians who escaped the 1915 genocidal massacre by Ottoman Turks first settled in Lebanon and Iran and then emigrated to the greater Boston area in the 1970s and '80s when civil wars erupted in those countries.

The Massis Bakery and Specialty Food Store on Mt. Auburn Street, established in 1977, is one of the many bakeries here that have emerged to serve the influx of Armenian-Americans.

The baked and canned goods sold in the store are labeled in both English and Armenian, and bear such titles as "Jajekhi," "Tabouleh" and "Baba Ganouj."

To celebrate Easter, the bakery sold special "choreg," an Armenian semi-sweet cake.

"We make choreg all year round, but normally they're like little rolls," says Missak Ourfalian, the store's manager. "For Easter we make it bigger and sell it with three red dye-colored eggs on top."

He adds: "The Armenian food is a basic part of the culture. People want to have the foods that they're used to and we provide that convenience."

But the store manager does not think that bakeries alone will sustain the Armenian influence in greater Boston.

"You need organizations, you need churches," he says. "Organizations in the area try to keep the Armenian culture and heritage alive, especially to the youth. We need to reach out and instill the Armenian value."

"Food is a very small part of that," he says.

Although many of Watertown's Armenian residents say they are concerned with preserving their culture, this attitude has not always prevailed.

Armenians began to emigrate to America in large numbers in the early part of this century. Poverty forced them to abandon some aspects of their own culture in favor of American traditions, according to James R. Russell, Mashtots professor of Armenian studies at Harvard.

"These people weren't worried about preserving their language--they learned English and learned it fast," he says. "The lynchpin of all their existence was economics. The rest of it was secondary."

But in St. James at least, the children and parents chatted with each other in Armenian.

Arrival and Growth

The first major wave of Armenian immigration began in 1906 and was fostered by the Ottoman Turks' discriminatory and eventually genocidal policies.

Many Armenian immigrants settled in Boston, where they were employed in blue-collar jobs.

"They worked in the factories and mills of Worcester, and the shoe factories of Lynn," Russell says. "Massachusetts mass-produced much of the country's shoes, and the work was done by Armenians."

Gradually the Armenian immigrants forged a better life for themselves and began to migrate to suburban Watertown.

"The large Armenian Church in the area was originally on Shawmut Street in Boston, but later moved to Watertown," Russell says.

The relocation of the church solidified Watertown's position as the center of Armenian culture in New England.

"Armenians used to hold communal picnics there," Russell says.

Armenians were recognized in the Middle East as accomplished artists and musicians and they brought that tradition with them to Watertown.

Arshile Gorky, an Armenian refugee who settled in Watertown, was an abstract impressionist painter and studied at the Boston New School of Design in 1924.

He would sit and paint on the banks of the Charles River each Sunday.

One of his more famous works was a painting of the Park Street Church in Boston, which has been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

After the Armenian community established itself in Watertown, its members began to surface in various American political movements.

"During the 1930s the Armenians were involved in all kinds of radical politics," Russell says. "Anarchists, Moscow-style communists--there were even Armenian Trotskyites."

"Cultural life was extremely rich, even though it was the Depression," he says.

Several Armenian-American newspapers reflecting different political viewpoints were published daily in Watertown at that time, he says.

One example was the Hayrenik, "the organ of the Armenian Revolutionary Foundation, a nationalist political party with a socialist program," Russell says.

The publication was read by Armenians worldwide, and was printed daily until the 1970s, he says.CrimsonRonald Y. KooA memorial commemorates the Armenian genocide of 1915.

"It's interesting. We learn new songs every week," says Meri Galstian, 12, a first soprano.

The youngsters are members of the St. James Armenian Church Junior Choir and Chorus, a group that began in late 1995 and has already received worldwide attention, according to Artur H. Veranian, the choir's maestro and the church's artistic director.

The group performed last October in St. Vartan's Cathedral Church in New York as part of a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of American church choruses, he says.

"The Archbishop of Jerusalem invited three junior choruses from the East Coast," Veranian explains with pride. "They knew of our good reputation."

Other people affiliated with the chorus say that it is instrumental in keeping the community's traditions alive.

"We don't want [the next generation] to forget everything," says Barbara Young, a volunteer who supervises the choral practices. "If they're surrounded by the songs and the liturgy then they'll get used to it."

Young says that members of the senior chorus are in their 50s and 60s so it is important to teach young people the songs of the Armenian Church. The children sing classic European music as well.

"You want your kids to know what Armenian is all about," says Susana Harutunian, mother of three chorus members. "All my kids are singing here."

Sustaining Traditions

Organizations like the St. James Armenian Church on Mt. Auburn Street bear witness to the cultural diversity that the Armenian community has brought to Watertown.

Many Armenians who escaped the 1915 genocidal massacre by Ottoman Turks first settled in Lebanon and Iran and then emigrated to the greater Boston area in the 1970s and '80s when civil wars erupted in those countries.

The Massis Bakery and Specialty Food Store on Mt. Auburn Street, established in 1977, is one of the many bakeries here that have emerged to serve the influx of Armenian-Americans.

The baked and canned goods sold in the store are labeled in both English and Armenian, and bear such titles as "Jajekhi," "Tabouleh" and "Baba Ganouj."

To celebrate Easter, the bakery sold special "choreg," an Armenian semi-sweet cake.

"We make choreg all year round, but normally they're like little rolls," says Missak Ourfalian, the store's manager. "For Easter we make it bigger and sell it with three red dye-colored eggs on top."

He adds: "The Armenian food is a basic part of the culture. People want to have the foods that they're used to and we provide that convenience."

But the store manager does not think that bakeries alone will sustain the Armenian influence in greater Boston.

"You need organizations, you need churches," he says. "Organizations in the area try to keep the Armenian culture and heritage alive, especially to the youth. We need to reach out and instill the Armenian value."

"Food is a very small part of that," he says.

Although many of Watertown's Armenian residents say they are concerned with preserving their culture, this attitude has not always prevailed.

Armenians began to emigrate to America in large numbers in the early part of this century. Poverty forced them to abandon some aspects of their own culture in favor of American traditions, according to James R. Russell, Mashtots professor of Armenian studies at Harvard.

"These people weren't worried about preserving their language--they learned English and learned it fast," he says. "The lynchpin of all their existence was economics. The rest of it was secondary."

But in St. James at least, the children and parents chatted with each other in Armenian.

Arrival and Growth

The first major wave of Armenian immigration began in 1906 and was fostered by the Ottoman Turks' discriminatory and eventually genocidal policies.

Many Armenian immigrants settled in Boston, where they were employed in blue-collar jobs.

"They worked in the factories and mills of Worcester, and the shoe factories of Lynn," Russell says. "Massachusetts mass-produced much of the country's shoes, and the work was done by Armenians."

Gradually the Armenian immigrants forged a better life for themselves and began to migrate to suburban Watertown.

"The large Armenian Church in the area was originally on Shawmut Street in Boston, but later moved to Watertown," Russell says.

The relocation of the church solidified Watertown's position as the center of Armenian culture in New England.

"Armenians used to hold communal picnics there," Russell says.

Armenians were recognized in the Middle East as accomplished artists and musicians and they brought that tradition with them to Watertown.

Arshile Gorky, an Armenian refugee who settled in Watertown, was an abstract impressionist painter and studied at the Boston New School of Design in 1924.

He would sit and paint on the banks of the Charles River each Sunday.

One of his more famous works was a painting of the Park Street Church in Boston, which has been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

After the Armenian community established itself in Watertown, its members began to surface in various American political movements.

"During the 1930s the Armenians were involved in all kinds of radical politics," Russell says. "Anarchists, Moscow-style communists--there were even Armenian Trotskyites."

"Cultural life was extremely rich, even though it was the Depression," he says.

Several Armenian-American newspapers reflecting different political viewpoints were published daily in Watertown at that time, he says.

One example was the Hayrenik, "the organ of the Armenian Revolutionary Foundation, a nationalist political party with a socialist program," Russell says.

The publication was read by Armenians worldwide, and was printed daily until the 1970s, he says.CrimsonRonald Y. KooA memorial commemorates the Armenian genocide of 1915.