Ethnic residential shifts: The Greek population of Akron, Ohio, 1930–2005

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to apply the framework of transnationalism to the study of the Akron, Ohio Greek community through the spatio-temporal changes in the residential patterns. Church records for the period 1930 to 2005 form the basis of the study. The first Greek immigrants arrived in Akron, Ohio in the latter part of the nineteenth century and settled around the commercial zone in the central city. Additional immigrants, mostly young males with little education, arrived during the early decades of the twentieth century to seek employment in the growing industries, especially the tire factories. The establishment of a sizable colony made it possible to form a parish church in close proximity to the place of work. In addition to the place of worship, ethnic stores, and coffee houses became foci of ethnic life. Although this central city cluster was undergoing minor residential shifts to the suburbs, it was identifiable until the early 1970s. By then most of its immigrant residents as well as their American born children moved to the suburbs, especially in the northwestern part of the city, because of economic improvement. Post-1965 immigrants bypassed the central city cluster and settled in the suburbs. Anecdotal information suggests that these immigrants, individually and collectively as a group, maintain a variety of economic, social, and cultural connections with their place of origin as well as the Akron Greek community. Thus, transnationalism is an appropriate framework to study recent immigrants who maintain concurrent connections to the United States and Greece.