Sweet Greeks

Abstract

This narrative is about Greek immigrants to America from 1880 to 1930. Unlike previous studies focusing on immigrant communities in major cities, this is a rural study, examining the Greeks who settled in central Illinois’s small towns and opened confectioneries and soda fountains. The author’s grandfather Gus Flesor was one of these, coming to Tuscola, Illinois, in 1901 and taking over the candy shop there. Gus’s shop is still in business today, run by the author and her sister. Gus’s experience serves as a case study that informs the stories of more than 100 other Greek confectioners who settled in over forty towns in central Illinois. The author describes why the Greeks came to America and recounts the obstacles they faced after arrival and their attempts to acculturate and assimilate and become confectioners. A significant amount of the narrative recounts the ethnic and racial hostility the Greeks faced, especially from the Ku Klux Klan. But the bulk of the text is about the Greek immigrant confectioners themselves who fulfilled the American dream by settling in a new land, raising families, operating profitable businesses, and contributing to their communities. As the author’s father once observed, “It’s a good story.”