Conclusion

Abstract

Chapter 9 extends the story of the first-generation Greek immigrants to follow the lives of the second and third generations and the concept of Greek identity. There is some discussion of the decline of the Greek confectioneries in the 1940s and 1950s as well as other retail enterprises. The chapter also, importantly, offers suggestions for further research, because these Greek candy and soda fountain shops were not solely a central Illinois phenomenon. They existed all across America – some are still in existence. One of the most important contributions of this book is to describe the immigrants of the early twentieth century who did not settle in the large cities – New York, Chicago, Boston. These are the accounts of the one man or two brothers or husband and wife who had the courage to make it alone in a small town, generally as the only foreigners. This is a case study of central Illinois, but similar studies are possible not only of the Greeks but of all these brave immigrant pioneers who settled in rural America a century ago.