Greek immigration

Greek immigration into the Birmingham district was widespread during the late 19th and early 20th century as rural depression in the Greek islands coincided with the availability of trans-Atlantic passage for immigrant laborers and industrial expansion in Alabama.

The local Greek community traces its beginnings to the semi-legendary arrival of three Cassimus brothers who had been part of the British merchant marine before settling in Alabama, with one brother establishing himself in Mobile in 1873, the second in Montgomery in 1878, and the third, George, coming to Birmingham in 1884 and putting in time with the Birmingham Fire Department before opening a lunch counter.

In the late 1880s, immigration from the Peloponnesian islands was spurred by a crash in prices for currants and raisins, a major export product. Many early immigrants to were single men hoping to return to their homes with money to establish themselves and support their families. By the 1930s, the laboring class of Greek immigrants was sometimes in tension with the growing middle class, which tended to pursue greater assimilation.

Later waves of Greek immigration followed the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which coincided with Greece's conflicts with Turkey over possession of Cyprus. Like the first, this wave was primarily comprised of single men seeking economic opportunity. Though they were much more likely to seek permanent residency, they were also more likely to maintain traditional customs, giving rise to another cycle conflict with more assimilated established members of the community.

Demographics

The 1900 census reported just 100 Greek-born residents of Birmingham. In 1910 there were 900 Greeks recorded in Birmingham, plus another 1,200 in Ensley, clustering in the Sherman Heights neighborhood.

By 1910 the Greek community was one of many strong ethnic communities in Birmingham, including established German and Irish populations which had dominated the earliest influx, and paralleling a rapid influx of Italian immigrants into the city.

Though the 1920 census recorded only 485 Greeks in Birmingham, the numbers may have reflected a tendency for more established immigrants to underplay their ethnic identity in the face of Nationalist sentiments surrounding World War I. More Greek people had left wage work to open businesses, with many following Cassimus into the food industry, either as fruit sellers, wholesalers, grocers, importers, bottlers, confectioners, bakers or restaurateurs. Their dominance of street-corner fruit stands provoked an unsuccessful petition to revoke their licenses in 1902. A 1908 survey found 125 Greek-owned businesses; mostly food-related, but also among them hotels, personal services and billiard halls.

Middle-class Greek households began to cluster in Southside on Cullum Street, and in Norwood.

References

• "History of Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral" in Nancy Faires Conklin & Brenda McCallum (1982) "The Lebanese Arabic School and The Greek School, Birmingham, Alabama" Project on Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America. American Folklife Center. Library of Congress, pp. 28–36