Working to Preserve Our Heritage: The Incredible Legacy of Greek American Community Services by John P. Psiharis highlights the trailblazing Chicago-based organization that helped lead a cultural renaissance in the community during the last two decades of the 20th century.
The first in the Hellenism in the Heartland Series, the book details the incredible legacy of Greek American Community Services (GACS), which in its day, celebrated, promoted, and preserved the Greek-American cultural heritage through far-ranging public programs in the arts and humanities, touched the lives of thousands through its social services, introduced adult day care as a viable care option for the community, helped build better interethnic understanding and cooperation, and gave rise to the committee that established Chicago’s Greek-American Nursing Home (GANHC). The early years of the Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly (CLESE), an organization GACS played a key role in launching, are also recounted in the book.
According to Psiharis, the project first took shape seven years ago after he discovered a small box of photos that were in the back of a closet. “As I looked at these pictures and remembered the people in them and the story behind each photo, I realized that someone looking at these pictures 25 or even 50 years later, would have no idea who these people were or what their efforts resulted in,” he said.
A founder of GACS who served as both a past president and as executive director of the organization throughout most of its existence, Psiharis “realized that it was up to me to tell this story.”He soon mentioned the undertaking to Dr. Elaine Thomopoulos who was co-founder of GACS and at various times served as vice president, administrator, and Cultural and Arts Program director. Psiharis and Thomopoulos were also co-founders of the GANHC and served as board members from day one though the opening and a few years beyond. Thomopoulos, too, had an extensive collection of documents, ephemera, publicity, and pictures related to GACS and the GANHC.
Together, they scoured their collections and meticulously detailed the legacy of GACS and the GANHC from inception through 2006 when Psiharis’ term on the GANHC concluded and he chose to step-down.
It soon became apparent that the content was too much for one book. Psiharis noted that “to tell the stories of both GACS and the GANHC, along with the early years of CLESE and an overview of Chicago’s Greek community during this era would have made the book extremely large, cumbersome, and costly.
”This dilemma resulted in the creation of the Hellenes in the Heartland Series, which documents the illustrious history of both organizations and the landscape of Chicago’s Greek community during this time. The second book in the series, Breaking Ground: Inside Chicago’s Nursing Home Movement, also authored by Psiharis, is set to be released in April of 2025.
Of the nursing home, a newspaper of the day proclaimed: “The creation of this center united the Chicagoland Greek-Americans as no other project or cause has in these times.” Today, the nursing home is consistently rated as one of the best in the state of Illinois.
The third book in the series, Hellenes in the Windy City: The Greeks in Chicago, 1970-2000, co-authored by Psiharis and Thomopoulos, is planned for late 2025.
Another two books are also envisioned for the series with book four slated for a summer 2025 release.
Working to Preserve Our Heritage: The Incredible Legacy of Greek American Community Services by John P. Psiharis is available online. The Hellenism in the Heartland Series is published by Greek American Press, an imprint of Psihco, LLC, a Chicago-based enterprise. More information on the series is available online: www.GreekAmericanPress.com.