University of Florida Homepage

Fieldwork Eastern Pennsylvania Day 4


On Day 4, the destruction of the city of Smyrna in September 1922 resulted in the expulsion of a family of four from Çeşme to Mytiline. The descendant’s grandmother was educated as a teacher in Smyrna, and the family had a summer home in Çeşme. Her granddaughter describes the scene her grandmother experienced. “She said, small boats lined up on the seaside in Çeşme headed for the nearby islands, one boat for Mytiline, one for Chios, one for Samos. The one for Chios had room. They grabbed what they could carry … and boarded the one for Chios.” After a two-year stint in Chios, where the grandmother noted that she experienced prejudice, she married and moved to Philadelphia. “She was way ahead of her time. She did not put restrictions on her daughter … or on me. The one thing she emphasized was, ‘Do not forget this story. Do not forget what happened to us.'” After a short pause, the descendant added, “That is why I am here being interviewed by you, as a tribute to her memory. I want her to know that I did not forget.”

View All Pennsylvania 2023 Fieldwork