Hellenic American Project (HAP)
www.hapsoc.org
The Hellenic American Project (HAP), Department of Sociology, Queens College, CUNY, is a nonprofit program that documents the Hellenic American presence in the United States from the first wave of mass immigration in 1900 to the present. HAP operates as a research facility, archive, Greek American Library, museum, and event space. The purpose of HAP is to cultivate a seamless narrative that encompasses the Hellenic American experience through an innovative multifaceted approach combining primary and secondary sources while making them available to the public. HAP initiatives include: conducting interviews that are organized into generational oral histories, analyzing population data, curating and digitizing cultural artifacts and books, and organizing academic symposia and cultural events. The Hellenic-American Oral History Project is the only program of its kind, promoting understanding of New York City’s Greek American community and capturing its transformation over time.
In July 2022, HAP expanded its Vision and enriched its array of activities by acquiring the physical and digital archive of the Voice of America Greek Service, and by founding its production-branch, anthroPhos, Hellenic Cultural Production Company.
Voice of America Greek Service, in its 72-year history, went on to cover historic turning points of modern Greece, from the civil war in the late 1940s, until, most recently, the country’s struggles to remain an integral part of the E.U. HAP’s expert staff will supervise and be responsible for the preservation and presentation of the VOA Greek Service Archive, both in physical and digital form. Following an extensive process of cataloguing and dissemination, the audiovisual material will, then, be accessible to the public, physically, in a newly-furbished space within the HAP facilities at Queens College in the City University of New York, and, after a process of digitization, will be published and made accessible online through a VOA Greek Service Archive website.
HAP’s newly-founded Hellenic Cultural Production Company, anthroPhos, aspires to promote and preserve Hellenism through the presentation of artistic and cultural works. anthroPhos will produce feature films, TV shows, documentaries and docuseries, theatrical performances and art exhibitions, of exceptional quality and international appeal, focused on Hellenic and Hellenic-American related topics and stories, and feature personalities of Hellenic descent (“Global Greeks”) who have left their mark in History or global culture. To amplify its cultural impact, anthroPhos, additionally intends to initiate an annual multifaceted Hellenic Cultural Festival, and a year-long “Open Call” project fund in support of Hellenic, Hellenic-American or philhellene creators, as well as establish the “anthroPhos: Hellenic Cultural Centre,” based in NYC, a multi-venue facility, to host the Cultural Festival, and showcase multiple Hellenic-related projects.