Orthodox History

Chicago-area lecture on March 23

I've mentioned this before, but I wanted to let readers know that I'll be speaking in the Chicago area on Wednesday, March 23. My lecture, which will focus on the early history of Orthodoxy in Chicago (roughly the mid-1880s through the mid-1890s), will take place at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox...

A Short Introduction to the Armenian Church in the United States

Editor's note: Today, we're pleased to introduce a new contributor -- Aram Sarkisian, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, has extensively studied both Armenian and Russian Orthodox history in America. He has familial ties with both Churches, and we're very glad that he will be sharing his expertise here...

The Kodiak Bell in the LA Times, 1923

Editor's note: The following article appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 13, 1923, and was entitled, "Tolls Story of Old California." An old and battered bell, hanging in an orange grove where Ramona played in the days of her childhood, rang a new note in the song of...

The Remarkable Life and Career of Reverend Father Demosthenes Chiamardas (Tsiamardas, 1864-1957), Part 1

Erie, Pennsylvania (AP). “The Reverend Demosthenes Chiamardas, 93, reportedly the first Greek Orthodox clergyman to be ordained in the United States, who came to this country in 1905, from his native Greece, died Thursday.” On June 6, 1957, this one-sentence obituary from the Associated Press appeared in newspapers around the...

The Kodiak Bell should be returned to Alaska

On February 4, I wrote an article on an 18th century Russian bell that currently hangs in an old Roman Catholic mission in California. Thanks to Mr. Clifford Argue, I have since learned a great deal more about the Kodiak Bell, and I am convinced that this bell needs...

Photos of the oldest Orthodox church in Texas

Way back in the summer of 2009, we went down to Houston to visit family, and while there, we made a special trip to the nearby city of Galveston. Really, my family was indulging me -- I wanted to visit Saints Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Church, the first Orthodox...

SOCHA to co-sponsor 1st American Orthodox historical symposium at Princeton University

SOCHA is pleased to announce: Pilgrims and Pioneers The Growth of Orthodox Christianity in 20th Century America Friday, September 30 – Saturday, October 1, 2011 Princeton Theological Seminary This symposium will examine some of the people and movements that contributed to the growth of Orthodox Christianity in 20th century America....

Iakov Babin & the Il’mena Island Massacre of 1815

Yesterday, we posted the St. Peter the Aleut entry from Richard A. Pierce's Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary. In that excerpt, Pierce offered this theory: "Since the extermination of Indians on 'Il’mena Island' by Aleut hunters led by the Russian Iakov Babin, there with the RAC brig Il’mena, occurred at...

Excerpt: Richard Pierce on St. Peter the Aleut

Editor's note: The late Dr. Richard A. Pierce was among the foremost historians on Russian Alaska, and his many books remain standards in the field. In 1990, he published Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary (Kingston, Ont., Canada: Limestone Press). Among the many entries in the book is one on St....

Three bishops for America in 1870?

This article was originally published on October 30, 2009. On July 19, 1870, a Philadelphia newspaper called the North American and United States Gazette published the following report: The Russian Ambassador has received instructions from his government that three bishoprics of the Greek Church are to be established forthwith in...