Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia. The first major wave of Armenian immigration to the United States took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thousands of Armenians settled in the United States following the

Hamidian massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide an ...

of the mid-1890s, the Adana Massacre of 1909, and the Armenian genocide of 1915–1918 in the Ottoman Empire. Since the 1950s many Armenians from the Middle East (especially from Lebanon,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey) migrated to the U.S. as a result of political instability in the region. It accelerated in the late 1980s and has continued after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991 due to socio-economic and political reasons. The 2017

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

estimated that 485,970 Americans held full or partial Armenian ancestry. Various organizations and media criticize these numbers as an underestimate, proposing 800,000 to 1,500,000 Armenian Americans instead. The highest concentration of Americans of Armenian descent is in the Greater Los Angeles area, where 166,498 people have identified themselves as Armenian to the 2000 Census, comprising over 40% of the 385,488 people who identified Armenian origins in the US at the time. The city of

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

in the Los Angeles metropolitan area is widely thought to be the center of Armenian American life (although many Armenians live in the aptly named " Little Armenia" neighborhood of Los Angeles). The Armenian American community is the most politically influential community of the Armenian diaspora. Organizations such as Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and Armenian Assembly of America advocate for the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the United States government and support stronger

Armenia–United States relations The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 brought an end to the Cold War and created the opportunity for bilateral relations of the United States with Armenia and other New Independent States (NIS) as they began a political and eco ...

. The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is known for its financial support and promotion of Armenian culture and Armenian language schools.

History

Early history

The first recorded Armenian to visit North America was Martin the Armenian from Iran. He was an

Iranian Armenian Iranian-Armenians ( hy, իրանահայեր ''iranahayer''), also known as Persian-Armenians ( hy, պարսկահայեր ''parskahayer''), are Iranians of Armenian ethnicity who may speak Armenian as their first language. Estimates of thei ...

tobacco grower who settled in

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...

in 1618. In 1653–54, two Armenians from Constantinople were invited to Virginia to raise

silk worms The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

. A few other Armenians are recorded as having come to the US in the 17th and 18th centuries, but most moved as individuals and did not establish communities. By the 1770s over 70 Armenians had settled in the colonies. The persecution of Christian minorities under the Ottoman Empire and American missionary activities resulted in a small wave of Armenian migration to the US in the 1830s from

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...

and Western Armenia. Hatchik (Christopher) Oscanyan, a Constantinople American missionary school student, arrived in America in 1835 to pursue higher education. He later worked for the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' and became the New York Press Club president. Many Armenians followed him and went to the US for education. During the Civil War three Armenian doctors—Simeon Minasian, Garabed Galstian, and Baronig Matevosian—worked at military hospitals in Philadelphia. The only Armenian known to have participated in hostilities was Khachadour Paul Garabedian, who enlisted in the Union Navy. A naturalized citizen from Rodosto, Garabedian served aboard the blockade ships USS ''Geranium'' and USS ''Grand Gulf'' as a Third Assistant Engineer and later an officer from 1864 until his

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

from the Navy in August 1865. Armenian-Americans-Boston-1908

The number of Armenians rose from 20 in 1854 to around 70 by the 1870s. According to official statistics, 14 Armenians immigrated to the U.S. in 1878. In the late 1870s, small Armenian communities existed in New York City, Providence, Rhode Island, and Worcester, Massachusetts. By the late 1880s, their number reached 1,500. Many of them were young male students of the American Evangelical Missions spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. About 40% came from the Province of Kharpert. Before 1899, immigrants were not classified by ethnicity, but rather by country of birth, obscuring the ethnic origins of many Armenians. After 1869, however, Armenians from the eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire were registered as "Armenian" in American records. The number of Armenians who migrated to the US from 1820 to 1898 is estimated to be around 4,000.

First wave of immigration and the Interwar period

Armenians began to arrive in the US in unprecedented numbers in the late 19th century, most notably after the

Hamidian Massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide an ...

of 1894–96, and before, during and after the Armenian genocide. Before this mass migration to the US, the number of Armenians in the country was from 1,500 to 3,000. ''The New York Times'' talked of about 10,000 Armenians in the US in 1895. Over 12,000 Armenians from the Ottoman Empire went to the US throughout the 1890s. This period witnessed cultural contact between American and Armenian through Armenian nationalist dissident organizations within the Ottoman Empire and intense activity of American missionaries in the region who were sympathetic to the Armenian cause, making the long road of migration somewhat more bearable. With the exception of Fresno, California, which had land suitable for farming, the earliest Armenian immigrants mostly settled in the northeastern industrial centers, such as New York City, Providence, Worcester, and Boston. Armenian emigrants from the Russian Empire were only a minority in emigration from Armenian lands across the Atlantic (about 2,500 moved in 1898–1914), because Armenians were treated relatively better in Russia than in the Ottoman Empire. Once in America, some Armenians organized

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

to serve various causes in America and in the homeland. Turkish Armenian migration rose gradually in the first decade of the 20th century, partly due to the Adana Massacre of 1909, and the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

in 1912–1913. Before the start of the World War I, there were already 60,000 Armenians in the US. As more Armenians fell victim to the genocide and more Armenians were deported, the Armenian American community grew dramatically. Worcester Armenian church

According to the

Bureau of Immigration Bureau of Immigration may refer to: *Bureau of Immigration (India) *Bureau of Immigration (Philippines) * Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (Liberia) *Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforc ...

, 54,057 Armenians entered the US between 1899 and 1917. The top listed countries of origin were Turkey (46,474), Russia (3,034), Canada (1,577), Great Britain (914) and Egypt (894). Immigrants were asked to indicate which state they were going to settle in; for Armenians, the most popular answers were

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(17,391), Massachusetts (14,192), Rhode Island (4,923), Illinois (3,313), California (2,564), New Jersey (2,115), Pennsylvania (2,002), Michigan (1,371). The largest Armenian American communities at that time were located in New York City; Fresno; Worcester, Massachusetts; Boston; Philadelphia; Chicago;

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Detroit; Los Angeles; Troy, New York; and Cleveland. According to estimates, around 77,980 Armenians lived in the US by 1919. An unprecedented number of Armenians entered the country in 1920, when the newly established Soviet Union forcefully annexed the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...

, but the Immigration Act of 1924 that restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe as well as Asia barred many other Armenians from emigrating to the US. Most of the post-World War I immigrants were women and children, in contrast to the prewar immigration, which was predominantly young and male. Like Italians, for whom this practice was known as ''campanilismo'', Armenian communities were often formed by people from the same village or town in the Ottoman Empire. This practice almost entirely disappeared after World War II. In total, 81,729 Armenians entered the US from 1899 to 1931 according to the

Immigration and Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS, ...

Second wave of immigration

Armenian dancers in downtown Manhattan, 1976

A new wave of Armenian immigrants moved in the late 1940s, including Soviet Armenian prisoners of war who were able to make their way westward after being freed from

Nazi camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 allowed people displaced during the World War II to immigrate to the US. From 1944 to 1952, 4,739 Armenians migrated to the US, many with the help of

George Mardikian George Magar Mardikian (November 7, 1903 – October 23, 1977) was an Armenian Americans, Armenian-born American restaurateur, chef, author and philanthropist. In 1938, he opened Omar Khayyam's restaurant in San Francisco, California, which wa ...

's American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians (ANCHA). However, the true second wave of immigration did not begin until the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...

abolished national origins quotas. After the passage of that act, Armenians from the Soviet Union, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries began migrating in large numbers, many fleeing political instability in their host countries. In the 1950s, most Armenian immigrants in the US were from Soviet Armenia and Turkey. The Istanbul pogrom in 1955 frightened the local Turkish Armenian population, which looked to the West for a safe and more prosperous life. Soviet Armenians, on the other hand, were mostly genocide survivors who never fully integrated into Soviet life after their repatriation in the 1940s. The large-scale emigration of Soviet Armenians, mainly to Western countries, began in 1956. About 30,000 Soviet Armenians entered the country from 1960 to 1984, and another 60,000 moved throughout the late 1980s, during the

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

era. The total number of Soviet Armenian emigrants from 1956 to 1989, over 80% of them to the US, is estimated at 77,000. The 15-year-long Lebanese Civil War that started in 1975 and the

Iranian revolution of 1979 The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

greatly contributed to the influx of Middle Eastern Armenians to the US. The Armenian communities in these Middle Eastern countries were well established and integrated, but not assimilated, into local populations. Armenians in Lebanon and Iran are even represented in the parliaments as ethnic minorities. Many lived in luxury in their former countries, and more easily handled multilingualism, while retaining aspects of traditional Armenian culture. This wave of newcomers revitalized the Armenian American community, especially in the Los Angeles area, where most second-wave Armenian immigrants settled. In 1970 about 65,000 Armenians resided in Southern California, and two decades later, in 1989, the number of Armenian Americans was estimated at 200,000. Although the

1980 US Census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was t ...

put the number of Armenians living in Los Angeles at 52,400, of which 71.9% were foreign born: 14.7% in Iran, 14.3% in the USSR, 11.5% in Lebanon, 9.7% in Turkey, 11.7% in other Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Iraq,

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, etc.), and the rest in other parts of the world. ''The New York Times'' estimated 500,000 Armenian-Americans in the 1980s, including 50,000 in the New York metropolitan area.

Contemporary period

Immediately before and continuing into the time of the

, waves of Armenians from Armenia and other former Soviet republics arrived for political reasons and economic opportunities, settling in older established Armenian communities across the country. The

1988 Armenian earthquake The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...

and the energy crisis in Armenia during the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

caused an estimated number of 700,000 Armenians to leave the country, most of whom ended up in Russia, still others in the US, and some in Europe. Annually, on average 2,000 people from Armenia migrated to the US since 1994, not including ethnic Armenians from Middle Eastern countries. According to the 2000 US Census, there were 65,280 Armenian-born people in the US. Almost 90% had moved in the previous two decades (57,960) and lived in California (57,482). According to the 2011

, there were 85,150 Armenian-born people in the US, about 20,000 more than in 2000. The Armenian-born population grew to 101,757 by 2019. Meanwhile, Armenian immigration from the Middle East continues, contributing to California's distinction of having, by far, the highest Armenian American population of any state. According to Dr. Anny Bakalian, "country of birth and childhood socialization, generation, and even cohort effect are important variables in understanding the behavior and attitudes of people of Armenian descent". The main subgroups of foreign-born Armenian Americans are ''Hayastantsis'' (Armenians from Armenia), ''Parskahays'' (Armenians from Iran) and ''Beirutsis'' (Armenians from Beirut, Lebanon). A 1990 University of California, Los Angeles study showed that by education and occupation, native-born and Iranian-born Armenians "tend to have the highest socioeconomic status... while those from Turkey have the lowest", although Turkish Armenians boast the highest rate of self-employment. In 1988, '' The New York Times'' article claimed that Middle Eastern Armenians prefer to settle in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, while Armenian immigrants from the Soviet Union were attracted to Hollywood, Los Angeles. Armenians from Lebanon, where they had effectively established an active community, are more politicized, while Turkish Armenians are mostly connected with the Armenian Apostolic Church. About 1/3 of all Turkish Armenians in America are self-employed. A group of Armenian Americans from Istanbul founded the

Organization of Istanbul Armenians The Organization of Istanbul Armenians (OIA) is a non-profit organization located in Winnetka, Los Angeles, Winnetka, California which is dedicated to preserving the Armenians, Armenian heritage. It was founded in 1976 by a group of Armenians in Is ...

(OIA) in 1976, which claimed over 1,000 members in Southern California as of 2011. Iranian Armenians are known for fast integration into American society; for example, only 31% of Armenian Americans born in Iran claim not to speak English well. Armenian American criminal organizations have received widespread media attention, such as during the 2010 Medicaid fraud. However, in the city of Glendale, California, where Armenians compose 27% of city's total population, only 17% of the crime in the city were committed by Armenians in 2006. According to the

2000 US Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

, there were 385,488 Americans of Armenian ancestry at that time. The 2017

estimate found 485,970 Americans with full or partial Armenian ancestry. Higher estimates of 800,000 to 1,500,000 are offered by many Armenian and non-Armenian organizations, media and scholars. The German ethnographer Caroline Thon puts their number at 800,000, a number also offered by Dr.

Harold Takooshian Harold Takooshian (born 1949) is an American psychologist, scholar, and professor at Fordham University. He is best known as an expert on the Kitty Genovese murder case, having spent many years studying the subject and the role that the "bystand ...

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. Prof. Dennis R. Papazian of University of Michigan–Dearborn claimed that there were 1,000,000 people of Armenian ancestry living in the US. ''

Armenian Mirror-Spectator ''The Armenian Mirror-Spectator'' is a newspaper published by the Baikar Association, in Watertown, Massachusetts. Among others, Arthur Derounian (John Roy Carlson) wrote for it. ''The Armenian Mirror'' The origins of the newspaper goes to 19 ...

'' the German news website '' Spiegel Online'' and '' The New York Review of Books'' reported the estimate of 1,200,000, while the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, '' U.S. News & World Report'', and '' Los Angeles Times'' put the number at 1,400,000. The

Armenian National Committee of America The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) ( hy, Ամերիկայի Հայ դատի յանձնախումբ) an Armenian American grassroots organization. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and it has regional offices in Glendale, ...

, '' The Armenian Weekly'', ''The Armenian Reporter'', and Reuters offer the highest number, at around 1,500,000 Armenian Americans.

Geographic distribution

Most Armenian Americans are concentrated in major urban areas, especially in California and the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, and to a lesser extent in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. The highest concentrations of Americans of Armenian ancestry are in Los Angeles, New York and Boston. According to the 2000 Census, the states with largest Armenian populations were California (204,631), Massachusetts (28,595), New York (24,460), New Jersey (17,094), Michigan (15,746), Florida (9,226), Pennsylvania (8,220), Illinois (7,958), Rhode Island (6,677) and Texas (4,941).

California

The first Armenian arrived in California in 1874 and settled in Fresno. Fresno and the Central Valley in general were the center of California Armenian community, but in the later decades, especially since the 1960s, when significant number of Middle Eastern Armenians arrived in the US, Southern California attracted more and more Armenians. Los Angeles and the surrounding area is, by far, the most crowded Armenian community in the US. It holds a little less than half of all Armenians living in the US, making it one of the most populous Armenian communities outside of Armenia. The estimated numbers of Armenians of Southern California vary greatly: 250,000, 350,000, 400,000, 450,000, 500,000, although the 2000 census reported 152,910 Armenians in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

. Just eleven years later, the 2011 American Community Survey one-year estimates put the number of Armenians in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area 214,618, about 29% growth from 2000. The city of Los Angeles itself had an Armenian population of 64,997 in 2000. Several districts of Los Angeles have high concentrations of Armenians, particularly in

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

: North Hollywood,

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

and Encino. On 6 October 2000, a small community in

East Hollywood East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

was named Little Armenia by the Los Angeles City Council. The city council file on the adoption states that "the area contains a high concentration of Armenian businesses and residents and social and cultural institutions including schools, churches, social and athletic organizations." Glendale panorama

Glendale, just a few miles away from Downtown Los Angeles, has a population of about 200,000, of which, according to some estimates, 40% is Armenian. According to the 2000 Census 53,840 people or 27% of the population identified themselves Armenian in Glendale. Glendale also home to the highest percentage of people born in Armenia. Other than

and Los Angeles proper, significant Armenian populations reside in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

(8,312),

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

(4,400), Montebello (2,736),

Altadena Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

(2,134),

La Crescenta-Montrose La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Acc ...

(1,382). The

Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument The Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument, better known as Montebello Genocide Memorial, is a monument in Montebello, California, Montebello, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915. ...

, the oldest and largest Armenian Genocide memorial in the US, is located in Montebello. Dr. Seta Kazandjian described the community in her 2006 dissertation as follows: Fresno, California was the first major Armenian community in the Western US. It was a major destination for early Armenian immigrants from the Ottoman Armenia, many of whom were engaged in agriculture. Armenians were the largest minority group in Fresno County. The city is also widely known as the birthplace of William Saroyan, many of whose stories are set there. Today, an estimated number of about 40,000 Armenian live in Fresno. According to the 2000 Census 9,884 Armenians lived in Fresno County at the time. The area around the

Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...

is called Old Armenian Town. The Northern Californian Armenian population is not as populous as the Southern portion of the state. Armenians are mostly concentrated in and around the cities of San Francisco, San Jose and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. The 2000 Census reported only 2,528 Armenians in San Francisco, but Hayk The Ubiquitous Armenian stated "the actual number is probably much higher since the census is usually lower than actuals."

Northeast

Armenians came to the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

fleeing ethnically motivated violence starting around 1890. When the

Hood Rubber Company The Hood Rubber Company was a rubber and shoes manufacturing company based in Watertown, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1896 by Frederic C. Hood and Arthur N. Hood. It merged with the B. F. Goodrich Company in 1929 to become a solely ow ...

(later joined with B.F. Goodrich) opened in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1896. Armenian, Syrian, Greek, and Italian immigrants made Hood Rubber the biggest producer of rubber soles in the US, and thus made Watertown, MA the first center of Armenian America.{{cite web, title= remembering the Armenian Genocide 100 Years Ago Holds Special Significance in Watertown , url= https://www.wbur.org/news/2015/04/24/remembering-armenian-genocide-100-watertown, access-date=07 November 2022 New York was also a destination for Armenian immigrants in the early 20th century. The area between East 20th Street,

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along it ...

and First Avenue, where a compact Armenian population lived and Armenian shops existed, was called "Little Armenia" until the 1960s. The area was mentioned in 1914 book ''Our Mr. Wren: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man'' by Sinclair Lewis (the 1930 Nobel Prize Winner).{{cite web, title=Armenians in New York, NY, url=http://www.hayk.net/destinations/new-york-ny/, publisher=Hayk the Ubiquitous Armenian, access-date=18 December 2012, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223030027/http://www.hayk.net/destinations/new-york-ny/, archive-date=23 December 2012, url-status=dead Today, according to estimates there are 150,000 Armenians in the Tri-State area. Queens is home to some 50,000 Armenian Americans, Manhattan has 10,000 Armenian population centered in

Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park and the surrounding neighborhood that is referred to also as Gramercy, in the New York City borough of Manhattan in New York, United States. T ...

, Kips Bay and Murray Hill, where

St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral ( hy, Սուրբ Վարդան Մայր Տաճար) in New York City is the first cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church to be constructed in North America. It is located in New York City on the corner of Second ...

is.{{cite web, author=Hrag Vartanian, url=http://agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=65, title=Tracking Armenians in New York, date=1 April 2002, publisher= Armenian General Benevolent Union, access-date=21 July 2012, quote=Today, Manhattan's community has shrunk to 10,000 of the 150,000 Armenians in the Greater New York area. As the most culturally diverse county in the nation, Queens was and perhaps still is home to the bulk of Tri-State Armenians with today's population hovering around 50,000., url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209200049/http://agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=65, archive-date=9 December 2010 Armenian Heritage Park

Stepan Zadori, a Hungarian Armenian, is the first known Armenian to come to Boston, The Armenian community in Boston was not founded until the 1880s.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=41 Today, estimates say that Armenians number from 50,000 to 70,000 in the Greater Boston area.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=41 The

Armenian Heritage Park Armenian Heritage Park is a memorial park dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide located on Parcel 13 on the Rose Kennedy Greenway between Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Christopher Columbus Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The Park inclu ...

, dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide, was opened in downtown Boston on May 22, 2012. Watertown, Massachusetts is the center of Boston Armenians, where according to estimates about 8,000 people of Armenian origin reside, though the 2000 Census put the number only at 2,708.{{cite web, title=Ancestry: 2000 All places within Massachusetts, url=https://archive.org/details/AllPlacesInMassachusettsAncestry2000_459, publisher=United States Census Bureau, access-date=22 December 2012 Worcester, Massachusetts was also a major center for Armenian immigrants in the early part of the twentieth century. The

Armenian Library and Museum of America Armenian Museum of America (AMA), located in Watertown, Massachusetts, United States, is an institution that has the largest collection of Armenian artifacts in North America. History In 1971, alarmed by the growing loss and destruction of Armen ...

is located in Watertown. The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) is located in Belmont, and "starting in early 2018, NAASR will undertake top-to-bottom renovations...to transform it into a welcoming hub and first-class Armenian Studies research center for scholars and myriad others, Armenians and non-Armenians alike." Other towns in the area with significant Armenian populations are Worcester (1,306),

Belmont Belmont may refer to: People * Belmont (surname) Places * Belmont Abbey (disambiguation) * Belmont Historic District (disambiguation) * Belmont Hotel (disambiguation) * Belmont Park (disambiguation) * Belmont Plantation (disambiguation) * Belmon ...

(1,165), Waltham (1,091) and the city of Boston (1,080). Other major northeastern cities with significant Armenian populations include Philadelphia and Providence. Like other Armenian communities in America, Armenian communities in these cities have their roots in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Currently, Philadelphia holds about 15,000 Armenian American population{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=45 and over 7,000 live in Providence.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=45 There is also a small Armenian community in Portland, Maine; this community was founded in 1896 and is currently represented by the Armenian Cultural Association of Maine (ACAME). One of the ACAME's first projects (in 2003) was to build a monument dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide, located at the intersection of Cumberland Avenue and Franklin Arterial in Portland.

Other communities

Other sizable Armenian American communities exist in the

and in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, but in much smaller numbers than the Northeastern states and California. The early Armenian immigrants in Detroit were mostly laborers. In later decades, particularly since the 1960s Middle Eastern Armenians immigrated to Michigan. The Armenian community has been described as "highly educated, professional and prospering."{{cite web, title=Armenians in the Metropolitan Detroit Area, url=http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/detroit.html, work=Ethnic Groups in Michigan, Vol. 2 of The Peoples of Michigan, publisher=The Ethnos Press, access-date=18 December 2012, author1=Dennis Papazian, author2=Carolyn Sirian, location=Detroit, pages=12–17, year=1983, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805180914/http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/detroit.html, archive-date=5 August 2012 Today, they number about 22,000.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=41 Chicago's Armenians also first settled in the city in the late 19th century in small numbers, but it increased through the 20th century, reaching about 25,000 by today.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=44 As of 2003 more than 8,000 Armenian Americans lived in Washington, DC.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=40 The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is also located in the capital. Since the turn of the century there been a trend towards an increase in number of Armenians living outside of traditional settlement areas. For instance, the number of Armenians in Nevada increased from 2,880 in 2000 to 5,845 in 2010, Florida from 9,226 to 15,856, and Texas from 4,941 to 14,459.{{cite web, title=Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported by states 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, url=https://archive.org/details/AncestryIn2010ByStates, publisher=United States Census Bureau, access-date=27 December 2012 The Pacific Northwest has a growing Armenian community as well, primarily centered around the Seattle Metropolitan area which consists anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 Armenian Americans, along with a church. Many of the Armenian Americans in Washington State immigrated to the area in the 1990s and have since established a sizable community, especially in and around the Eastside.

Culture

Language

As of 2000, 53% of the Armenians living in the US speak the Armenian language. For comparison, about 6% of

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

s, 32% of Greek Americans and 70% of Albanian Americans speak their ancestral language.{{cite web, title=Ancestry: 2000, publisher=United States Census Bureau, access-date=17 December 2012, url=https://archive.org/details/Ancestry2000 The Armenian language has two distinct standardized forms: Western Armenian and

Eastern Armenian Eastern Armenian ( ''arevelahayeren'') is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form a pluricentric language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, Artsakh, Russia, as we ...

, both widely spoken among the Armenian American community. Armenians from Lebanon, Turkey,

and few other countries speak the Western dialect, which was spoken in Turkish (Western) Armenia, the eastern regions of Turkey with historical Armenian presence. Eastern Armenian is primarily spoken in Armenia and Iran, though the Iranian Armenians have their own dialect; in the United States, speakers of Eastern Armenian are primarily immigrants from the former Soviet Union who mostly arrived during the 1990s, or their children. Furthermore, Western and Eastern Armenian use two different spellings. In Armenia, the reformed orthography is used, while most Armenians in the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

(including Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Iran) use the classical orthography.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, pp=397–398 Between 1910 and 1970, the language of only the foreign-born population in the United States was taken into account. In 1910, the number of Armenian speakers in the US was 23,938. It grew up to 37,647 in 1920, 51,741 in 1930, 40,000 in 1940, 37,270 in 1960 and 38,323 in 1970. According to the

100,634 people in the nation spoke Armenian, 69,995 of them were foreign-born.{{cite web, url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/acs/Table2.xls, title=Languages Spoken at Home: 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2007, publisher=United States Census Bureau, access-date=6 August 2012 The 1990 US Census revealed 308,096 people of Armenian ancestry at the time and 149,694 people who indicated Armenian as their native language. A majority of Armenian-speakers (115,017) were foreign-born.{{cite web, url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/tab05.html, title=Language Spoken at Home for the Foreign-Born Population 5 Years and Over: 1980 and 1990, date=9 March 1999, publisher=United States Census Bureau, access-date=18 December 2012 According to the

there were 385,488 ethnic Armenians living in the US, and 202,708 people identified Armenian as 'Language Spoken at Home'. The overwhelming majority of Armenian-speakers lived in California (155,237). Other states with significant number of Armenian-speakers were New York (8,575) and Massachusetts (8,091).{{cite web, url=https://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t20/tab05.pdf, title=Detailed List of Languages Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over by State: 2000, date=25 February 2003, publisher=United States Census Bureau, access-date=18 August 2012 About 2/3 of Armenians speakers call Los Angeles County home.{{cite book, last=Bedevian, first=Harry Sahag, title=Student, Staff, and Parent Perceptions of the Reasons for Ethnic Conflict Between Armenian and Latino Students, year=2008, isbn=978-0-549-60688-8, pages=5–6 The 2009–2013 American Community Survey estimates put the number of Armenian-speakers at 237,840. A 2007 study showed that 16% of Armenians born in Lebanon, 29% in Armenia (including Soviet Armenia), 31% in Iran and 36% in Turkey are not proficient in English.{{sfn, Samkian, 2007, p=102 Many foreign-born Armenians are multilingual, speaking at least one language other than Armenian and English. For instance, Armenians from Armenia or the rest of the former Soviet Union might know Russian, those from Lebanon and Syria may know Arabic and French, almost all Iranian Armenians speak Persian and Istanbul Armenians speak

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. A 1999 paper delivered by

Bert Vaux Bert Vaux (; born November 19, 1968, Houston, Texas) teaches phonology and morphology at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he taught for nine years at Harvard and three years at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Vaux specializes in ph ...

described Armenian as "severely endangered" in the United States. Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian school

Education

{{see also, List of Armenian schools in the United States Early Armenian immigrants were one of the most literate ethnic groups to enter the US with 76% literacy. In comparison, 46% of southern Italians, 74% of Eastern European Jews and 99% of Finns were literate.{{cite book, last=Sisson, first=Richard, title=The American Midwest: an interpretive encyclopedia, year=2006, publisher=Indiana Univ. Press, location=Bloomington, Indiana, isbn=978-0-253-34886-9, page=320 As of 2007, 41% of US-born Armenians had at least a 4-year college degree. The rate is lower for foreign-born Armenians.{{sfn, Samkian, 2007, p=102 The first Armenian

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

in the US was founded in the late 1880s in New York by Barsegh Vardukyan.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=51 Since the 1960s many Armenian bilingual schools have been established in communities throughout the country.

Ferrahian Armenian School Holy Martyrs Armenian Elementary and Ferrahian High School ( hy, ՍՐԲՈՑ ՆԱՀԱՏԱԿԱՑ ԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ՆԱԽԱԿՐԹԱՐԱՆ ՖԵՐԱՀԵԱՆ ԵՐԿՐՈՐԴԱԿԱՆ ՎԱՐԺԱՐԱՆ) is an Armenian-American private school located in the Sa ...

, founded in 1964, is the oldest Armenian daily school in America.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=51 Besides this, there are over 100 Armenian schools that operate on weekends only. Mashdots College in Glendale, founded in 1992, is the only Armenian higher education institution in the country. Armenian Americans constitute a highly educated community. Of the 339,732 Armenian Americans who are 25 or above, 26% are with a college degree, and 26.1% hold a bachelor's degree.

Religion

Most Armenian Americans are adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the largest

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...

church in the US.{{cite book, last=Laderman, first=Gary, title=Religion and American cultures, year=2003, publisher=ABC- CLIO, location=Santa Barbara, Calif., isbn=978-1-57607-238-7, page=302 It possesses over 90 churches throughout the nation.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=38 It was reported that 80% of Armenian Americans are Armenian Apostolic, 10% are Protestant (mostly Armenian Evangelical) and 3% are Armenian Catholic.{{cite book, title=The encyclopedia of New York State, year=2005, publisher=Syracuse University Press, location=Syracuse, NY, isbn=978-0-8156-0808-0, author1=Eisenstadt, Peter R. , author2=Moss, Laura-Eve , page=118 The Armenian Apostolic Church is the oldest national church in the world, and had a major role in protecting the Armenian identity through the centuries of foreign domination.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=46 Many Armenian communities in the country are concentrated around churches that serve as community centers. The first Armenian Apostolic church in America, named Church of Our Savior, was built in 1891 in Worcester. The American Diocese of the Church was established in 1898 by Catholicos

Mkrtich Khrimian Mkrtich Khrimian or ''Mıgırdıç Kırımyan'' ( classical hy, Մկրտիչ Խրիմեան, reformed: Մկրտիչ Խրիմյան; 4 April 182029 October 1907) was an Armenian Apostolic Church leader, educator, and publisher who served as Cat ...

. In 1916 there were 34 Armenian parishes with 27,450 members with a predominantly male population. The top states with Armenian church followers were Massachusetts, Michigan, California and New York. The Western Diocese was established in 1927.

After the Soviets took over Armenia in 1920, the Armenian American community was divided into two camps: one supporting Soviet Armenia (mostly members of the Hunchak and

Ramgavar The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party ( hy, Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն), the Ramgavar Party, (known before 1921 as the Armenakan party) ( hy, Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն), also known by its Ar ...

parties), another one against it (mostly made up of ARF members). During the

1933 World's Fair A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

Leon Tourian Archbishop Leon Tourian (; 1 January 1879 – 24 December 1933) was a cleric of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Appointed primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America in 1931, he was assassinated in New York City by hi ...

, the primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, refused to give a speech because the Armenian tricolor of the 1918–1920 Republic was hanging behind him, while

Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

, the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, was in Armenia that was then part of the Soviet Union and used a different flag. This upset the Dashnak members present in the ceremony. The conflict reached a crisis on 24 December 1933, when several members of ARF assassinated Archbishop Tourian during the

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

service in New York's

Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church is a significant Armenian Apostolic Church in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City at 580 West 187th Street. It occupies the former second location of the Lutheran church of The Lutheran Church of Our ...

. On October 12, 1957, during the peak of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, a number of parishes of the Armenian Apostolic Church in America, which were unaffiliated since 1933, came together under the Holy See of Cilicia with the headquarters in Lebanon, close to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.{{cite book, title=Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches 2012, year=2012, publisher=Abingdon Press, isbn=978-1-4267-5610-8, author=National Council of Christ in USA, chapter=Armenian Apostolic Church of America , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DWeLz28b88C&q=Western+Diocese+of+the+Armenian+Church+of+America&pg=PT136{{cite web, last=Kouymjian , first=Dickran , author-link=Dickran Kouymjian , title=Armenians in the United States , url=http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/faculty/kouymjian/articles/us_armenians.htm , publisher=California State University, Fresno , access-date=7 December 2012 , date=December 1992 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718205010/http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/faculty/kouymjian/articles/us_armenians.htm , archive-date=18 July 2013 After the World War II, Archbishop

Tiran Nersoyan Tiran Nersoyan (August 23, 1904 in Antep, Cilicia, Ottoman Empire – September 1, 1989 in New York City) was an Armenian Apostolic clergyman. He was Patriarch-elect of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem very briefly in 1957–1958 but neve ...

led the church through a second founding, which saw the framing of by-laws to govern the diocese, the creation of a nationwide youth organization. the initiation of a project to build an Armenian cathedral in Manhattan and the entry of the Armenian Church into the ecumenical movement. The middle 1950s saw an uptick in immigration and a building boom of Armenian churches, with new communities proliferating across the US. A generation of leaders born in America also began to exert itself. The first American-born Armenian priest was ordained in 1956. In 1961, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary was established in Illinois (later, it would move to New York). A spirit of renewed vigor was embodied by Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, who governed the diocese as primate from 1966 to 1990. The period saw a large influx of Armenian immigrants. These developments refocused the priorities of the Armenian Church in America. The need for humanitarian relief to the Armenian homeland, as well as outreach to

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s settling throughout the US (concentrated in New York and Los Angeles), led to the creation of the

Fund for Armenian Relief The Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) is a US humanitarian organization. It provides short-term emergency relief and long-term programs focusing on child protection, economic development, education, health care, and social services. FAR was founded i ...

—through which the church delivers material and medical aid to Armenia.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=46 Today, more than 120 Armenian parish communities exist on the continent, with two-thirds operating as fully organized churches with sanctuaries. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian is primate of the Eastern Diocese (since 1990); Archbishop

Hovnan Derderian Hovnan Derderian (born 1 December 1957) is the youngest Armenian cleric to have been elevated to the rank of archbishop. Life Born Vahram Derderian in Beirut, he studied at the Antelias Seminary and the Seminary of the Holy See in Etchmiadzin, ...

of the Western Diocese (since 2003). The dioceses maintain strong connections to the

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin ( hy, Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին, translit=Mayr At’oř Surb Ēĵmiatsin), known in Armenian as simply the Mother See (Մայր Աթոռ, ''Mayr At’oř''), is the governing body of the Armen ...

, and the current Supreme Patriarch, Karekin II, the 132nd Catholicos of All Armenians. Armenian Evangelical form the second largest denomination among Armenian Americans, with 1 out of 10 being a follower. As of 1993 there were 28 Armenian Protestant Churches.{{sfn, Bakalian, 1993, p=93 A small number of Armenian Americans are followers of the Armenian Catholic Church. Their number is estimated to be around 25,000. In 1990 there were 6 Armenian Catholic Churches in the United States.{{sfn, Bakalian, 1993, p=93

Media

The first Armenian-language newspaper in the US, named ''Aregak'' (Արեգակ, "Sun"), was published in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=77 Today, numerous Armenian newspapers (both in Armenian and English) are published throughout the country. '' Asbarez'' (Ասպարէզ, "Arena") is the only daily, published in Los Angeles since 1908. ''

Hairenik ''Hairenik'' ( hy, Հայրենիք meaning "fatherland") is an Armenian language weekly newspaper published by the Hairenik Association in Watertown, Massachusetts in the United States. The newspaper, serving the Armenian American community, ...

'' (Հայրենիք, "Fatherland") is published since 1899 in Boston. Both are affiliated with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Other notable weeklies include '' The Armenian Weekly'', ''

'', ''

Nor Hayastan ''Nor Hayastan'' ( hy, Նոր Հայաստան, meaning "New Armenia") is an independent Armenian language daily newspaper published in Glendale, California. It was established by Vahan Vahanian (Jansezian). The first issue was published on Janua ...

'' (Նոր Հայաստան, "New Armenia"), ''

The Armenian Reporter ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

Traditions

Armenian cuisine, and

Middle Eastern cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine or West Asian cuisine includes Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Cypriot, Egyptian, Georgian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Kurdish, Lebanese, Palestinian and Turkish cuisines. Common ingredients include olives and ol ...

in general, is popular among Armenian Americans. A number of restaurants function in the Los Angeles area and other locations with high concentration of Armenian-Americans.

Zankou Chicken Zankou Chicken is a small, family-owned chain of Armenian and Mediterranean fast casual restaurants located in the Los Angeles area. The restaurants are especially known for their spit-roasted chicken, shawarma, falafel, tahini, and a "secret ...

, a family-owned chain of Armenian and Middle-Eastern fast casual restaurants within the Los Angeles area, is among the most famous Armenian restaurants. Tens of amateur Armenian folk dance ensembles have been founded in the United States in the last decades.{{sfn, Bakalian, 1993, p=246 Homenetmen, an Armenian Revolutionary Federation-affiliated sports organization, is very active in the United States, also engaged in scouting. The Western US branch of Homenetmen holds the Navasartian Games in the Los Angeles area every summer since 1975. Today, it brings together more than 6,000 athletes from 300 teams, 2,000 scouts. More than 35,000 people come to watch the event.

Politics

{{see also, Armenia – United States relations, Diaspora politics in the United States Armenian National Committee of America

Early period

All three of the major Armenian political parties of the late 19th century and early 20th century – the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (also known as the ARF or Dashnaktsutyun), the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (Hunchak) and the Armenakan Party (later referred to as

) established a presence in the United States shortly after their respective founding;{{sfn, Peroomian, Avakian, 2003, p=42 with each running their own newspaper directed at the diaspora community in North America: ''

'' and '' Asbarez'' by Dashnaks and ''

Baikar ''Baikar'' (Պայքար meaning 'Struggle' in Armenian) is an Armenian language weekly published by the Baikar Association Inc., in Watertown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1922 and published in Armenian as a daily and was ...

'' by Ramgavars. After the Bolsheviks invaded and annexed Armenia in 1920, Ramgavars and Hunchaks formed a coalition supporting Soviet Armenia, while the ARF, which had been the ruling party of the

Republic of Armenia A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

from 1918 to 1920, remained anti-Soviet in the diaspora. The

1988 Spitak earthquake The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...

and the Karabakh movement brought the separate groups of the Armenian community together.

Armenian lobby

{{main, Armenian lobby in the United States The Armenian American community has been described as the "most influential" Armenian community in the world, though smaller in size than the one in Russia.{{cite book, last=Von Voss, first=Huberta, title=Portraits of hope: Armenians in the contemporary world, year=2007, publisher=Berghahn Books, location=New York, isbn=978-1-84545-257-5, page=11 The

Armenian American lobby The Armenian American lobby is the diverse coalition of those who, as individuals and as groups, seek to influence the United States foreign policy in support of Armenia, Armenians or Armenian policies. One of its primary goals is for the United Sta ...

is one of the most influential ethnic lobbies in the US. The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) and the

(ANCA) have as their main lobbying agenda the pressing of Congress and the US president for the reduction of economic and military assistance to Turkey and efforts to include reaffirmation of a genocide by Ottoman Turkey in 1915.Cameron, Fraser ''United States foreign policy after the Cold War'' The Armenian-American'lobby, Routledge 2002 p.91 According to one scholar, the political clout of the Armenian community in the United States "countervails the powerful big-oil lobby in Washington that promotes Azeri interests." According to Shawn Dorman, the author of ''Inside a U.S. embassy'', the main goal of Armenian lobby is the "persuasion of US Congress to favor Armenian interests, especially to

recognize Recognition may refer to: *Award, something given in recognition of an achievement Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric *Recognition of human individuals, or biometr ...

the Armenian genocide." She then claims that "it had significant role in the United States providing financial support to Armenia. From 1992 to 2010 the US provided nearly $2 billion, the highest per capita amount for a post-Soviet state." Fund for Armenian Relief is a humanitarian organization providing long-term programs focusing on human development. Armenia Fund raises millions of dollars every year for infrastructural development in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1992, Dr. Dickran Kouymjian of the California State University, Fresno stated: {{cquote, All have refocused their efforts toward Armenia, providing financial and professional skill. The identification of Armenians with those in Erevan and Karabagh has been greatly facilitated by Armenia's membership in the United Nations and the regular reporting of its problems in the American press. Diasporan history has been transformed by the Republic: nowhere is this more strongly felt than in America. The unifying force of the Genocide has been superseded by that of the Republic, while religious freedom in Armenia has revitalized the church in America and given it a mission. As the largest and most prosperous community in the world, as inheritors of a Protestant American work ethic, coupled with American self-righteousness, Armenian Americans feel they have a special role in the survival and success of the new state. They take pride in their support of Etchmiadzin, in the massive humanitarian aid given since the 1988 earthquake, in Armenians in high government positions, and particularly in the establishment of the American University of Armenia, the first major experiment in American higher education in the former Soviet Union. As English quickly becomes the second language of the new republic, Armenians in America feel closer to the homeland, suffering Armenia's tragedies and rejoicing in its successes. The Karabagh crisis, economic chaos, lack of basic amenities, and the threat of war fill all diasporan Armenians with an anxiety unknown before, because they know that their efforts may determine Armenia's fate. Armenian Genocide Memorial, Montebello, California

Armenian genocide

{{see also, Recognition of the Armenian genocide, United States resolution on Armenian Genocide, Armenian Genocide Museum of America The official recognition of the Armenian genocide by the US federal government is seen one of the most vital steps in international and full recognition of the 1915–1923 events. Many Armenians think that the US has the ability to force Turkey to recognize the past and pay Armenians and Armenia their reparations, that includes (for some) the return of the so-called

Wilsonian Armenia Wilsonian Armenia () refers to the unimplemented boundary configuration of the First Republic of Armenia in the Treaty of Sèvres, as drawn by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's Department of State. The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty that h ...

to the Republic of Armenia. Several official US documents describe the events as "genocide" (1975,{{cite book, last=Von Voss, first=Huberta, title=Portraits of hope: Armenians in the contemporary world, publisher=Bergahn Books, year=2007, page=36, isbn=978-1-84545-257-5 1984, 1996); President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

also described the events as "genocide" in a speech on 22 April 1981. On 4 March 2010, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs recognized the massacres of 1915 as "genocide." Also, 49 of the 50 US states have made individual proclamations recognizing the events of 1915 to 1923 as genocide. Armenian Americans gather in multiple towns and cities every year on 24 April for the recognition of the Armenian genocide. The largest of such gatherings occurs in the Los Angeles area. The Armenian National Institute lists 30 Armenian Genocide memorials in the US. The oldest one is

Montebello Genocide Memorial The Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument, better known as Montebello Genocide Memorial, is a monument in Montebello, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915. The monument, opened i ...

, which was completed in 1965.

Khachkar A ''khachkar'', also known as a ''khatchkar'' or Armenian cross-stone ( hy, խաչքար, , խաչ xačʿ "cross" + քար kʿar "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, in ...

s across America were erected in honor of the 1.5 million victims of the Genocide. Recently, the

was opened in Boston, MA. In 2021, the US formally recognized the Armenian genocide. {{clear

Notable people

{{main list, List of Armenian Americans Armenians in the US have attained success and prominence in diverse areas, including business, politics, entertainment, sciences, sports and the arts.

Arts and entertainment

Rouben Mamoulian was a film and theater director and also known as co-producer of the first feature film (''

Becky Sharp Rebecca "Becky" Sharp, later describing herself as Rebecca, Lady Crawley, is the main protagonist of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1847–48 novel '' Vanity Fair''. She is presented as a cynical social climber who uses her charms to fascinate a ...

'', 1935) to use the three-strip Technicolor process.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=415 Sev Ohanian is a film screenwriter and producer of '' Searching'', ''

Fruitvale Station ''Fruitvale Station'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is Coogler's feature directorial debut and is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man killed in 2009 by Bay ...

'' and ''

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

''. Armenian Americans have found a lot of success in the field of entertainment. Singer

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

(born Cherilyn Sarkisian). The metal band System of a Down is composed of four Armenian members of the diaspora: Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and John Dolmayan. Composer

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...

, born to an Armenian father and a Scottish-American mother, "wrote more than 400 pieces, among them 67 symphonies of varying quality."

Sebu Simonian Sebu Simonian (born October 15, 1978; hy, Սեպուհ Սիմոնեան) is an Armenian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo Capital Cities. Early life Simonian was born in ...

, one of two founders of the band Capital Cities, is Lebanese Armenian. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (known by the moniker David Seville) created

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

. In 1959, at the First Grammys he won 2 awards:

Best Recording for Children The Grammy Award for Best Children's Album (from 2020: Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album) is an honor presented since 2012 at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Hono ...

and

Best Comedy Performance The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to presen ...

Mike Conners Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975, a role which earned ...

(born Krekor Ohanian), is the actor who starred in the long-running TV series Mannix, for which he earned a Golden Globe award in 1970. His acting career spanned over 6 decades. Numerous Armenian musicians have been successful in American pop culture. Los Angeles is considered one of the main centers of Armenian music production of the last decades. Armenian-born singers that have lived or live in the US include rock singer pop singers Harout Pamboukjian and

Armenchik Armen Gondrachyan ( hy, Արմեն Գոնդրաչյան; born August 8, 1980), better known by his stage name Armenchik ( hy, Արմենչիկ), is an Armenian-American pop singer based in Los Angeles. Early years and career Armen Gondrachyan w ...

. Andrea Martin, comedian and film and television actor, best known as a regular on the Canadian television comedy show, '' SCTV'' and as Aunt Voula in '' My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by Kirk Jones and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine (in his final film role), Andrea Martin, Ian Gomez ...

'', is from a paternal and maternal, Armenian-American family. Reality TV show star Kim Kardashian is a controversial figure among Armenians. Her father, Robert Kardashian, was an attorney in the O. J. Simpson murder case, and her sisters,

Khloe Kardashian Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...

and Kourtney Kardashian, and brother Rob Kardashian are also reality television stars. William Saroyan

;Literature Armenian American literature constitutes a diverse body of literature that incorporates American writers of Armenian ancestry. Encompassing a cross section of literary genres and forms, Armenian American writers often incorporate some common themes (e.g., the Armenian genocide) while maintaining very personal literary styles. The New York-based ''

Ararat Quarterly ''Ararat Quarterly'' (1959–2008) was an international quarterly of literature, history, popular culture and the arts published in English The quarterly was published by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) in New York New York most co ...

'', published since 1959, has been a major venue for Armenian American writing. ''Ararat'' is published in English by the

AGBU The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ� ...

and also includes works by Armenian writers around the world in translation. Prominent Armenian American writers include William Saroyan,

Leon Surmelian Leon Zaven Surmelian ( hy, Լեւոն Զաւէն Սիւրմէլեան; November 24, 1905 – October 3, 1995) was an Armenian-American writer. Surmelian moved to America in 1922, and authored three major works throughout his lifetime. A surviv ...

A. I. Bezzerides Albert Isaac "Buzz" Bezzerides ( August 9, 1908 – January 1, 2007) was an American novelist and screenwriter, best known for writing films noir and action motion pictures, especially several of Warners' "social conscience" films of the 1940s. ...

, Michael Arlen, Marjorie Housepian Dobkin and others. Second generation Armenian American writers include

Peter Balakian Peter Balakian, born June 13, 1951, is an American poet, prose writer, and scholar. He is the author of many books including the 2016 Pulitzer prize winning book of poems ''Ozone Journal'', the memoir ''Black Dog of Fate'', winner of the PEN/Alb ...

Nancy Kricorian Nancy Jean Kricorian (born September 19, 1960) is an American author of the novels ''Zabelle'' (1997) and ''Dreams of Bread and Fire'' (2003). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published her third novel ''All the Light There Was'' in March 2013. Persona ...

Carol Edgarian Carol Louise Edgarian is an American writer, editor, and publisher. A ''New York Times''-bestselling author, her novels include '' Rise the Euphrates'', '' Three Stages of Amazement'', and Vera'. She is co-founder and editor of the non-profit ''N ...

Michael J. Arlen Michael John Arlen (born December 9, 1930, London, England) is an American writer, primarily of non-fiction and personal history, as well as a longtime staff writer and television critic for ''The New Yorker''. Early life Arlen is the son of a ...

Arthur Nersesian Arthur Nersesian is an American novelist, playwright, and poet. Nersesian is of Armenian and Irish descent. He was born and raised in New York City, and graduated from Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York. His novels include ''The Fuck-u ...

Micheline Aharonian Marcom Micheline Aharonian Marcom (born 1968) is an American novelist. Life and work Micheline Aharonian Marcom was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1968 to an American father and an Armenian-Lebanese mother. She grew up in Los Angeles, but as a child ...

Hrag Vartanian Hrag Vartanian ( hy, Հրակ Վարդանեան)(born ) is an Armenian-American arts writer, art critic, and art curator. He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the arts online magazine, '' Hyperallergic''. Life and work Vartanian was born ...

, and others. ;Visual arts Sculptor Haig Patigian, painter

Hovsep Pushman Hovsep Pushman ( hy, Յովսէփ Փուշման; May 9, 1877 – February 13, 1966) was an American artist of Armenian background. He was known for his contemplative still lifes and sensitive portraits of women, often in exotic dress. He was mo ...

, and most notably, Arshile Gorky (born Vosdanig Adoian) are among the best known American artists of Armenian origin. Other notable figures include sculptor

Reuben Nakian Reuben Nakian (August 10, 1897, College Point, New York – December 4, 1986, Stamford, Connecticut) was an American sculptor and teacher of Armenian extraction. His works' recurring themes are from Greek and Roman mythology. Noted works inc ...

, painters John Altoon,

Edward Avedisian Edward Avedisian (June 15, 1936 – August 17, 2007) was an American abstract painter who came into prominence during the 1960s. His work was initially associated with Color field painting and in the late 1960s with Lyrical Abstraction. Early ...

Charles Garabedian Charles Garabedian ( hy, Չարլզ Կարապետյան, December 29, 1923 – February 11, 2016) was an American-Armenian artist known for his paintings and drawings rich in references to Greek and Chinese symbolism. His artwork reveals a deep ...

Ludwig Mactarian Ludwig Mactarian (1908–1955; sometimes spelled 'MacTarian' or 'Mkitarian') was an American painter, muralist, and illustrator. Early life Ludwig Mactarian was born on January 1, 1908;website www.locategrave.org/l/4527016/Ludwig-Mactarian-NY ...

, and

Arman Manookian Arman Tateos Manookian ( hy, Արման Թադէոս Մանուկեան; May 15, 1904 – May 10, 1931) was an Armenian-American painter best known for his works depicting Hawaiian scenes. Early life Manookian was the oldest of three children bo ...

. In the field of the contemporary art and performance, some notable American artist of Armenian heritage include

Nina Katchadourian Nina Katchadourian (born 1968) is an American interdisciplinary artist and educator. She works with photography, sculpture, video, and sound—often in playful ways. She is best known for her "Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style," a ...

, Eric Bogosian,

Tabboo! Stephen Tashjian (born 1959) is an American artist. His drag queen character Tabboo! became known in the East Village underground scene of New York City in the 1980s. He is also a puppeteer, painter, and singer. Biography Stephen Tashjian wa ...

(aka Stephen Tashjian),

Peter Sarkisian Peter Sarkisian (born 1965) is an American New Media Artist whose work combines video projection and sculpture in order to create hybrid forms of multimedia installation. He currently lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sarkisian has exhibi ...

Aram Jibilian

Dahlia Elsayed Dahlia Elsayed (born 1969) is a New York-based painter, writer, and teaching artist whose work explores the relationships between language and landscape. Her work has won awards and been shown at galleries and art institutions internationally. Ea ...

Emil Kazaz Emanuel Ghazazian ( hy, Էմանուել Գազազյան), known as Emil Kazaz ( hy, Էմիլ Գազազ; born January 14, 1953, in Gyumri, Armenia) is an American-Armenian figurative sculptor and painter. He was awarded one of the 5 sculptur ...

Andrew Ohanesian
and others. Larry Gagosian is a major art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery. In 2011, the British magazine ''

ArtReview ''ArtReview'' is an international contemporary art magazine based in London, founded in 1948. Its sister publication, ''ArtReview Asia'', was established in 2013. History Launched as a fortnightly broadsheet in February 1949 by a retired country ...

'' placed Gagosian fourth in their annual poll of "most powerful person in the art world". Syria-born

is the founder and editor-in-chief of the art journal ''

Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking ...

''.

Academia, sciences and medicine

Vartan Gregorian Vartan Gregorian; fa, وارتان گرگوریان (April 8, 1934 – April 15, 2021) was an Armenian-American academic, educator, and historian. He served as president of the Carnegie Corporation from 1997 to 2021. An Armenian born in Ira ...

, born in Iran, was president of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

as well as president of the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

. He was a recipient the National Humanities Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Lawyer

Gregory H. Adamian Gregory Harry Adamian (September 17, 1926 – November 21, 2015) was the President Emeritus and Chancellor of Bentley College, now Bentley University. He served as president of Bentley from 1970 until 1991. Early life and education Adamian was ...

served as president of Bentley University from 1970 to 1991, during which he oversaw dramatic growth of the university. Aram Chobanian served as president of Boston University from 2003 to 2005. Richard Hovannisian is a historian and professor emeritus at UCLA.

Khachig Tölölyan Khachig Tölölyan (born 1944; Western hy, Խաչիկ Թէօլէօլեան) is an Armenian-American scholar of diaspora studies. Biography Early life Tölölyan was born in 1944 in Aleppo, Syria to Minas Tölölyan and Kohar Tölölyan (née ...

, born in Syria, was a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Wesleyan University and is considered a founder of the academic discipline of diaspora studies.

Daron Acemoglu Kamer Daron Acemoğlu (; born September 3, 1967) is a Turkish-born American economist who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 1993. He is currently the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. H ...

, a Turkish-born economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is one of the most cited economists in the world.

Raymond Damadian Raymond Vahan Damadian (March 16, 1936 – August 3, 2022) was an American physician, medical practitioner, and inventor of an NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) scanning machine. Damadian's research into sodium and potassium in living cells led ...

, a recipient of the National Medal of Technology, had a significant contribution to the invention of the MRI. Christina Maranci is the Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Professor of Armenian Art and Architecture at Tufts University. Jack Kevorkian was a controversial{{cite news, last=Schneider, first=Keith, title=Dr. Jack Kevorkian Dies at 83; A Doctor Who Helped End Lives, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/04kevorkian.html, newspaper= The New York Times, date=3 June 2011{{cite web, url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/227470.php, title=Jacob 'Jack' Kevorkian Dies; Death With Dignity Proponent Remembered, date=June 4, 2011 pathologist and

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

activist commonly known as "Dr. Death", whose parents were Armenian immigrants. His father, Levon, was born in the village of Passen, near Erzurum, and his mother, Satenig, was born in the village of Govdun, near Sivas.{{cite book, title=glimmerIQs, author=Kevorkian, Jack, publisher=World Audience, Inc., type=Paperback, year=2009, isbn=978-1-935444-88-6 Dr.

Moses Housepian Moses Minas Housepian (Armenian: , 1876 – December 11, 1952) was a Syrian-born Armenian-American physician and humanitarian aid worker. Biography Moses Minas Housepian was born in 1876 in Kessab, Cilicia, Ottoman Empire (now Syria). He escap ...

, an Armenian-American physician born in the Armenian village of Kessab in

, was a medical relief worker in Russian Armenia during the Armenian genocide. His son Dr. Edgar Housepian was a neurosurgeon, educator, and co-founder of the

Politicians

George Deukmejian Official Portrait crop

{{main, List of American politicians of Armenian descent A number of Armenians have entered into politics. The first Armenian to hold a high position office was Republican Steven Derounian, a Bulgarian-born Armenian, represented New York from 1953 to 1965 in the House of Representatives.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=255 George Deukmejian became the Republican governor of California in 1983 and left the office in 1991. Previously he had served as state assemblyman (1963–1967), state senator (1967–1979) and California Attorney General (1979–1983).{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=254 A number of Armenian Americans have been elected to state legislatures, especially in California. In Massachusetts,

George Keverian George Keverian (June 3, 1931 – March 6, 2009) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served as the List of Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Speaker of the Massachusetts Hou ...

served as a representative in the

State House State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, eventually becoming its speaker from 1985 to 1991.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=255

Paul Robert Ignatius Paul Robert Ignatius (born November 11, 1920) is an American government official who served as Secretary of the Navy between 1967 and 1969 and was the Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Lyndon Johnson Administration. Life and career Ignat ...

served as the

US Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the sec ...

from 1967 to 1969 in the Lyndon Johnson's administration.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=281

Ken Khachigian Kenneth L. Khachigian (born September 14, 1944, in Visalia, California) is an American political consultant, speechwriter, and attorney. He is best known for being a longtime aide to President Richard Nixon and chief speechwriter to President Rona ...

was the chief speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. He is also known for Reagan's characterization of 1915 events as "genocide" in 1981. Diplomat

Edward Djerejian __NOTOC__ Edward Peter Djerejian (born March 6, 1939) is a former United States diplomat who served in eight administrations from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton (1962–94.) He served as the United States Ambassador to Syria (1988–91) and Uni ...

was the US ambassador in Syria then Israel in the 1990s.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=281

Harry Tutunjian Harry J. Tutunjian was the Republican party (United States), Republican mayor of Troy, New York, Troy, New York (state), New York. He was elected in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. His term of office, term ended in 2012, when he could not seek reele ...

was the Republican mayor of Troy, New York from 2003 to 2012.

Bill Paparian William Mihrtad Paparian (born 1949 in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician, a former mayor of Pasadena, California, serving from 1995 to 1997. He was also a member of the Pasadena City Council from 1987 to 1999, and a Green Party ...

was elected to the Pasadena City Council in 1987 and became mayor in 1995.

Joe Simitian Saren Joseph Simitian (born February 1, 1953) is a California Democratic politician. From 2004 to 2012, he was the State Senator representing California's 11th State Senate district, which encompasses all or part of 13 cities in San Mateo, Sa ...

had been a California state senator since 2004,{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=255 while Paul Krekorian was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2010 from

District 2 District 2 may refer to: Places by country *II District, Turku, in Finland * District 2, Düsseldorf, Germany *District 2, Grand Bassa County, a district in Liberia *District 2, an electoral district of Malta *District 2, a police district of Mal ...

, where the Armenian population of Los Angeles is concentrated. Currently, two congresswoman of Armenian ancestry,

Anna Eshoo Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from . She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 14th district from 1993 to 2013, is based in Silico ...

and

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Distr ...

, are in the office, both Democrats from California.{{sfn, Adalian, 2010, p=255 A small number of Armenian Americans moved to Armenia in the early 1990s, some becoming notable in their ancestral homeland.

Raffi Hovannisian Raffi K. Richardi Hovannisian ( hy, Րաֆֆի Կ. Ռիչարդի Հովհաննիսյան; hyw, Րաֆֆի Կ. Ռիչարդի Յովհաննէսեան; born 20 November 1959) is an Armenian politician, the first Foreign Minister of Armenia and t ...

, a Fresno-born third-generation Armenian American lawyer, moved to Armenia in 1991 and soon was appointed the first foreign minister of Armenia, where he remained until 1992. Today, Hovannisian is a major opposition figure in Armenia and the leader of the

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

party. Sebouh (Steve) Tashjian, a California Armenian originally from Jerusalem, served as Minister of Energy, while Lebanese-born Gerard Libaridian, a Boston-based historian, was President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's adviser. {{clear

Military

Monte Melkonian, a native of California, was a prominent leader of Armenian forces during the

. He was posthumously awarded with National Hero of Armenia title. During World War II, about 18,500 Armenians served in the

armed forces of the United States The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. A number of them were decorated for their service, including Col.

Ernest Dervishian Ernest Herbert Dervishian (August 10, 1916 – May 20, 1984) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II. Biography Dervishian was b ...

, a native of Virginia, who was awarded the Medal of Honor. US Marine Harry Kizirian is considered the most decorated soldier of the state of Rhode Island. Another Marine captain,

Victor Maghakian Captain Victor "Transport" Maghakian ( hy, Վիգդոր Մաղաքեան; December 30, 1915 – August 17, 1977) was an Armenian-American member of the United States Marine Corps during World War II. As a gunnery sergeant, he led his platoon thro ...

is considered one of the most decorated American soldiers of the war. The highest-ranking Armenian-American during World War II was Brigadier General Haig Shekerjian (who had previously served in the Pancho Villa Expedition and as an American military attache in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I). He was appointed commanding general o
Camp Sibert, Alabama
which was used extensively as the main training camp for chemical warfare troops, and remained in that position until 1945. Shekerjian also gave numerous speeches during the war encouraging Americans of Armenian descent to enlist. Several major figures in the Armenian national liberation movement of the early 20th century lived and/or died in the US. Among them were Andranik Ozanian, a military commander who is considered a national hero among Armenians, who lived in Fresno, California from 1922 and died in California in 1927. Another notable military commander, Garegin Nzhdeh, lived in Boston, Massachusetts from 1933 to 1937, where he founded the Armenian Youth Federation.

Drastamat Kanayan Drastamat Kanayan (; 31 May 1884 8 March 1956), better known as Dro (Դրօ), was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He briefly served as Defence Minister of the First Republic ...

(Dro), the Defense Minister of Armenia from 1918 to 1919, lived in America after World War II and was shortly arrested for collaborating with the Nazis. His funeral ceremony was held in Trinity Church in the City of Boston in 1956.

Shahan Natalie Shahan Natalie ( hy, Շահան Նաթալի; July 14, 1884 – April 19, 1983) was an Armenian writer and political activist who was the principal organizer of Operation Nemesis, a campaign of revenge against officials of the former Ottoman Em ...

, a Dashnak activist, organized the

Operation Nemesis Operation Nemesis () was a program to assassinate both Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and officials of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conferenc ...

in the early 1920s, during which numerous Armenian Genocide perpetrators were murdered. From 1910 to 1912 he studied at the Boston University and died in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1983.

Sports

Perhaps the best-known American athlete of Armenian descent is tennis player, former no. 1 Andre Agassi. Armenian-born chess players

Tatev Abrahamyan Tatev Abrahamyan ( hy, Տաթև Աբրահամյան; born January 13, 1988) is an Armenian-American chess player. She currently holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Career Abrahamyan finished in a tie for first place with Nana Dzagnidz ...

and Varuzhan Akobian have represented the US in Chess Olympiad. The first ever Armenian Olympic medalist,

Hal Haig Prieste Hal Haig "Harry" Prieste (November 23, 1896 – April 19, 2001) was an Armenian-American athlete who participated in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp as a diver. Biography He was born Haig Prieste in Fresno, California to Armenian im ...

, won a bronze medal diving in 1920 Antwerp Games. The

US women's national water polo team The United States women's national water polo team represents the United States in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches. It is one of the List of water polo world medalists#Women's water polo world medalists, leading ...

won 2010 World Cup and 2012 Olympics under the coaching of Adam Krikorian.

Zach Bogosian Zachary M. Bogosian (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenceman with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres and T ...

is the first NHL player of Armenian descent. Coach Jerry Tarkanian built the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) into a "national powerhouse in college basketball" and was included in the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 2013. Former WWE and

ROH Roh or ROH may refer to: * ''Roh'' (film), a 2020 Malaysian horror film * Roh (name), a Korean surname * Roh, Maré, New Caledonia * Revoluční odborové hnutí, labour union in Czechoslovakia 1945–1990 * Ring of Honor, American professional ...

World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins, is of Armenian descent on his father's side. Major league pitchers Steve Bedrosian and his son,

Cam Bedrosian Cameron Rock Bedrosian (born October 2, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, and Philadelphia Phillie ...

, are of Armenian descent. ZildjianCustomRide

Business

Some notable Armenian Americans in business include the founder of Masco

Alex Manoogian Alexander Manoogian ( hy, Ալեք Մանուկեան; June 28, 1901 – July 10, 1996) was an Armenian-American industrial engineer, businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist who spent most of his career in Detroit, Michigan. He was the foun ...

, the

Mugar family The Mugar family of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, is a prominent Armenian-American family in New England business and in philanthropy, both in the United States and in Armenia. The best known member of the family is Stephen P. Mugar, (1901-1982), ...

(owner of

Star Market Star Market is a New England chain of supermarkets based in Greater Boston. It was owned by the Mugar family and started in 1915. The company was sold to The Jewel Companies, Inc. in 1964 and later to Investcorp, which in turn sold the chain to ...

chain of supermarkets in New England),

Kevork Hovnanian Kevork S. Hovnanian (1923 – September 24, 2009) was an Armenian-American businessman and home builder, who founded Hovnanian Enterprises in 1959. He remained the president and chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises until his retirement i ...

, founder of Hovnanian Enterprises, Avedis Zildjian, the founder of Zildjian Company (the world's largest

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

manufacturer),

Gerard Cafesjian Gerard Leon Cafesjian ( hy, Ջերարդ Լեւոն Գաֆէսճեան, 26 April 1925 – 15 September 2013) was a businessman and philanthropist who founded the Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF), the Cafesjian Museum Foundation (CMF) and the Ca ...

, and Alexis Ohanian (founder of the internet service Reddit). Kirk Kerkorian, known as "the father of the megaresort",{{cite book, last=Simich, first=Jerry L., title=More peoples of Las Vegas: one city, many faces, year=2010, publisher=University of Nevada Press, isbn=978-0-87417-817-3, author2=Wright, Thomas C., page=143 was claimed to be the richest man in Los Angeles prior to his death in 2015. Born to Armenian parents in Fresno, Kerkorian had provided over $1 billion for charity in Armenia through his Lincy Foundation. It was established in 1989 and was particularly focused on helping to rebuild northern Armenia after the 1988 Spitak earthquake. The foundation was dissolved in 2011, after 22 years of activity.

Christmas Tree Shops Christmas Tree Shops is an American chain of specialty retail stores headquartered in Union, New Jersey. As of 2021, the chain operates 80 stores in 20 U.S. states. History In 1970, Charles Bilezikian and his wife, Doreen opened the first sto ...

, a chain of small stores, was founded by Charles Bilezikian and his wife.

Miscellaneous

Other notable Armenian Americans include astronaut

James P. Bagian James Philip Bagian, MD, PE (born February 22, 1952), is an American physician, engineer, and former NASA astronaut of Armenian descent. During his career as an astronaut, he logged 337 hours of space-flight, over two missions, STS-29 (in 1989 ...

, who became the first Armenian to travel into space in 1989. It is claimed that he took the Armenian tricolor flag to space with him.{{cite journal, title=Washington Journalism Review: WJR, year=1989, volume= 11, publisher=Washington Communications Corporation Other notable Armenian Americans also include:

Oscar H. Banker Oscar H. Banker (born Asatour Sarafian; May 31, 1895 – January 1979) was an Armenian American inventor who patented a number of works, including an automatic transmission for automobiles, the needleless inoculation gun, the primary controls of t ...

(inventor of automatic transmissions for automobiles), and

Luther Simjian Luther George Simjian (January 28, 1905October 23, 1997) was an Armenian-American inventor and entrepreneur. A prolific and professional inventor, he held over 200 patents, mostly related to optics and electronics. His most significant inventions ...

(inventor of automated teller machines).

Armenian organizations

* Armenian Assembly of America – Organization promoting awareness of Armenian issues *

Armenian Church Youth Organization of America The Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA) is the official youth group of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. Its name in Armenian is "Hayastanyats Yegeghetsvo Yeridasartats Gazmagerboutiun Amerigayi." It was foun ...

– Promotes sports amongst Armenian American youth * Armenia Fund – Los Angeles based fundraising organization for capital improvements in Armenia * Armenian General Benevolent Union – A non-profit Armenian organization founded in Cairo, Egypt it moved its headquarters to New York City following the onset of World War II * Armenian lobby in the United States – The umbrella term for the broad coalition of organizations and individuals which coalesces to influence U.S. policy on Armenia *

– The largest grassroots Armenian-American organization in the U.S. * Armenian Professional Societ

– Armenian-American professional association founded in 1958 to advance fellowship and education * Armenian Relief Society – a nonsectarian, philanthropic entity benefitting the humanitarian, social and educational needs of both Armenians and non-Armenians. It is a non-governmental organization and has operates in 27 countries including the United States * Armenian Students Associatio

– Encourages the educational pursuits of Armenian -Americans * Armenian Youth Federation#United States, Armenian Youth Federation United States Chapters The youth arm of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's U.S. chapters * Children of Armenia Fund – Foundation set up to reduce rural poverty in Armenia *

– A New York City-based Humanitarian organization which provides short-term emergency relief and long-term programs focusing on child protection, economic development, education, health care, and social services.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

Bibliography

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Armenian Encyclopedia The ''Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( hy, Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան, ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) publishing house was established in 1967 as a department of the Institute of History of the Armeni ...

, location=Yerevan, language=hy *{{cite book, last=Bakalian, first=Anny, title=Armenian Americans: From Being to Feeling Armenian, year=1993, publisher=Transaction Publishers, location=New Brunswick, New Jersey, isbn=1-56000-025-2 *{{cite book, last=Malcom, first=M. Vartan, title=The Armenians in America, url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924032752200, year=1919, publisher=Pilgrim Press, location=Boston, isbn=1-112-12699-6 *{{cite book , last1=Hovannisian , first1=Richard G. , title=The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign dominion to statehood: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century , date=1997 , publisher=Macmillan , location=Basingstoke , isbn=978-0-333-61974-2 *{{cite book, last1=Sabagh, first1=Georges, last2=Bozorgmehr, first2=Mehdi, last3=Der-Martirosian, first3=Claudia, url=http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7jp6m12s#page-2, title=Subethnicity: Armenians in Los Angeles, year=1990, publisher=Institute for Social Science Research, University of California Los Angeles *{{cite book, last=Samkian, first=Artineh, title=Constructing Identities, Perceiving Lives: Armenian High School Students' Perceptions of Identity and Education, year=2007, isbn=978-0-549-48257-4 *

Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

, ''The Polish Experience Through World War II: A Better Day Has Not Come'', Foreword: Neal Pease; Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2013, {{ISBN, 978-0-7391-7819-5; 2015, {{ISBN, 978-1-4985-1083-7.