On July 26, 1922, the largest and oldest U.S.-based Greek heritage organization came to fruition.
In the face of bigotry and racism in early 20th century American, a group of visionary Greek immigrants established the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (Order of AHEPA) with the mission of promoting unity and assimilation into their new home country’s society.
Since then, what began as a grassroots immigrant movement in Atlanta, Georgia has flourished into an organization with international membership featuring chapters in the U.S., Canada, Greece, and Cyprus, as well as “sister” chapters in Australia and New Zealand under the auspices of AHEPA Australasia.
AHEPA is highly active in today’s communities and promotes ancient Greek ideals including philanthropy, education, civic responsibility, family and individual excellence.
Funded by more than $2 million of member contributions every year, the association provides scholarships, educational chairs, housing for the elderly, medical research, community programs, charitable projects and other similar initiatives.
It was the widespread and often violent discrimination faced by early Greek immigrants that ultimately led to the association’s founding in 1922.
At the time, the infamous Ku Klux Klan had recently reorganized. With an estimated three million men it rampaged against vulnerable immigrant and minority groups throughout the U.S., where it dominated local politics in northern and southern states.
The Klan imposed personal and economic intimidation upon foreign-born Greeks — even those who became American citizens — giving them no choice but to organize for the sake of their own livelihood.
At its peak, the KKK exerted influences on Republicans and Democrats alike, electing 16 senators, 11 governors and an undetermined big number of congressmen.
Klan-affiliated groups controlled local politics in major cities such as Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana and Portland, Oregon.
Klansmen also asserted their authority in smaller communities — Anaheim, California; El Paso, Texas; Youngstown, Ohio and Portland, Maine, among others.
Their members showed their defiance at U.S. elections, passing out cards that harshly declared:
When cotton grows on the fig tree
And alfalfa hangs on the rose
When the aliens run the United States
And the Jews grow a straight nose
When the Pope is praised by every one
In the land of Uncle Sam
And a Greek is elected President
THEN–the Ku Klux won’t be worth a damn.
Given such hostile adversaries, the embattled Greek immigrants who would found AHEPA chose to act — not coincidentally — by founding the organization in Atlanta, home to the KKK’s national headquarters.
The founding members were Harry and John Angelopoulos, George Campbell, James Campbell, Nicholas Chotas, George Polos, Spiros Stamos and James Vlass.
In addition to Italians, Slavic Europeans, Asians and other minority groups considered intolerable by the Klan, the Greeks were targeted for not adhering to the Klan’s strict beliefs about what defined a “good and loyal” American.
The Klan instigated boycotts of Greek-owned shops by openly threatening or attacking customers entering and leaving; as a result, businesses with earnings between $500-$1,000 per day dropped as low as $25, leaving them two options — either close down, or sell to a non-Greek.
Many were also threatened with dire consequences for speaking Greek in public — even on their own business property.
The Klan also persecuted immigrants for intermingling with “people of color,” such as in Goldsboro, North Carolina where two Greek restaurant owners were chased out of town for serving black customers.
In a similar incident that took place in Pensacola, Florida, a group of Klansmen donning long robes and hoods entered a Greek-run restaurant at night and gave the owner a note that read:
“You are an undesirable citizen. You violate the Federal Prohibition Laws and laws of decency and are a running sore on society. Several trains are leaving Pensacola daily. Take your choice but do not take too much time. Sincerely in earnest, KKK.”
The restaurateur left town, and a police captain who had been in his store at the time did nothing to arrest the Klan members for wearing masks in public, excusing them by saying he thought they were part of a “Greek-letter fraternity.”
In Indiana — the state in which the KKK had its strongest political influence — Klansmen burned crosses in the yards of outspoken Greek community members, and unprovoked beatings of Greeks were not reported to police unless another followed shortly after.
In order to improve relations with non-Greeks, the AHEPA leaders emphasized assimilation, cooperation, persuasion and — unlike their KKK counterparts — non-violence.
It was the hyper-Americanism and racially-fueled hatred from the KKK that motivated Greek leaders even more to assert their own love of country by founding AHEPA on principals of unquestionable loyalty to the U.S.
They emphasized patriotic ideals such as American citizenship, English language proficiency, active participation mainstream society, economic stability, social unity and education.
Just two decades after its founding, AHEPA would demonstrate its American patriotism during World War II, when the association sold more than $500 million of U.S. War Bonds — more than any organization in the country.
More recently, the organization raised $400,000 for the restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and $775,000 for a sculpture commemorating the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.
AHEPA officials have also had historically strong relations on the congressional and presidential levels.
They first met with President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 at the White House and have conferred with all 12 presidents since Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Gerald Ford became members of the association.
President George Bush even once hailed AHEPA as one of “the thousand points of light.”
AHEPA has been based in Washington D.C. since relocating in 1924, after which the organization also added three auxiliaries to support Greek American men and women — Daughters of Penelope, Sons of Pericles and Maids of Athena.
The association’s full jurisdiction includes the U.S., seven Canadian provinces, the Bahamas, Greece, Cyprus, Europe and Australia, and it has initiated more than 300,000 members in its history.
The association is divided into 800 chapters and has an active membership of more than 30,000 worldwide.
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4 comments
Wow. Very interesting. Thanks so much for telling this story. I know of Ahepa but never knew what the letters stood for. And never knew of the anti KKK connection.
I remember my father (1925-2002) telling me stories of anti Greek racism – particularly by college professors at WVU in the 1940’s.
One point of clarification
– the article stated that the KKK represented Democrats and Republicans.
“The Ku Klux Klan was originally and primarily an arm of the Southern Democratic Party. Its mission was to terrorize freed slaves and “ni**er-loving” (their words) Republicans who sympathized with them.
I’ve never heard that the KKK had anything to do with Republicans. Their stated goal was to attack free black men and Republicans.
Thanks for the great article.
Second what above said, would not have made much sense to ally with republicans. The kkk March was actually part of the DNC unless I’m mistaken.
But why they made AHEPA a secret masonic society with pompous titles and degrees of leadership, and membership by invitation only, and the Hellenic language is forbitten? Why AHEPA is using religious like rites? We should have a Democratic and open PanHellenic-American organization with places of meeting and cultural centers in every city in America, separate from the official church and secret societies.
I am sorry Greg, but you are wrong. I must respectfully correct you. AHEPA was not founded to oppose the Klan; the myth of origin is actually a big lie. AHEPA was founded to IMMITATE the Klan. Look at the Klansmen who attended the July 26, 1922 organizational meeting and urged the Greeks to establish AHEPA: (1) George A. Poulos who was employed by the KKK’s propagation department while the whole country was reeling against the criminal organization; (2) Carl F. Hutcheson who was associate editor of The Searchlight, the KKK’s official newspaper; and (3) Walter Sims, the KKK’s defense lawyer who was the Klan’s candidate for Atlanta’s mayor. Other Klansmen who played a significant role in AHEPA’s establishment were: J.O. Wood, editor in chief of The Searchlight and Hutcheson’s law partner; William Upshaw, the most vocal supporter of the Klan in Congress; Hooper Alexander, the Klansman who fixed the criminal cases against the Klan in his role as district attorney. All these men preached to the Greeks they must abandon the Greek language and adopt the Klan’s anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-negro, and — yes — anti-Greek ideology. In his role as AHEPA’s first Supreme Counselor, Klansman Hutcheson gave the “visionary” founders the name AHEPA and the “pure and undefiled Americanism” ideology. He drafted the charter and constitution, which excluded women, Blacks, Jews and Catholics from membership. He also drafted the oaths and rituals, which were taken verbatim from the Klan’s rituals. Finally, note that the Klan had been exposed as a financial pyramid, akin to a Ponzi scheme, where the recruiters kept a big chunk of the initiation fees for every new member. AHEPA’s “visionary” founders copied that system and peddled patriotism and citizenship to naive but well-meaning Greek immigrants. They misrepresented AHEPA’s goals, and the fact that they pocketed half of the initiation fees. It was supposed to be a lucrative pyramid scheme. Having said that, the Greeks who joined AHEPA had very noble intentions and made great sacrifices. AHEPA succeeded because of these Greeks, not because of the Klannish bigotry embedded in the fraternity’s secret rituals to this day. AHEPA’s exclusion of Catholics was lifted in the early 1930s after a huge controversy that resulted in the expulsion of Seraphim G. Canoutas from AHEPA. The exclusion of Blacks continued through the 1960s, well into the Civil Rights struggle! The exclusion of women and non-Christians continues to this day. AHEPA still excludes Greece’s current president and America’s current Vice President and Speaker of the House because they are women. It excludes Greece’s former prime minister Alexis Tsipras because he is an atheist. It excludes Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla (a Greek American), Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken because they are Jews. So many other worthy citizens are still excluded because of Klansman Hutcheson’s language in AHEPA’s constitution that has perpetuated the Klan’s influence on AHEPA. These facts are substantiated by contemporary newspaper accounts and the writings of Ahepans like V.I. Chabithes and the “visionary” founders themselves. So why do we lie that AHEPA was established to oppose the Klan and its bigotry? We can take the truth. Let’s talk about it and let’s see how we can reform AHEPA to unleash the power of those we exclude.