Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Summer/105/Section 06/Pete Miltiades

Overview
Pete Miltiades was likely born between the years of 1893 or 1894 in Greece - then part of the Ottoman Empire - and was raised in a small farming town. It's unsure what Miltiades's real name was as his identity was kept hidden as part of the Federal Writers' Project.

Early Life
Born as one of twelve children, with his father being one of seven, Miltiades was the prospective owner of 1/16 of the original 75 acres of land that belonged to his grandfather. As a child, Miltiades was only able to attend school due to a donation his grandfather had made years ago. At a young age, Miltiades was forced to work at a bakery in another town as farming was not profitable at the time and Miltiades's father was struggling financially due to a particularly ill-fated year where his mother fell sick and the prized tobacco crops burnt up. As a baker’s assistant, all of Miltiades's wages went directly to his father. Miltiades worked long hours and came to despise his job and after a year he decided to leave and he returned back to his father’s farm where conditions had returned back to normal. Like many Greek-speaking people living in the Ottoman Empire, Miltiades began to develop Greek nationalist ideas. He expressed loyalty to Greece and firmly asserted his identity as a Greek American later in life. Many Greeks expressed distaste for the Ottoman Empire, partially due to the Greek War of Independence, and its declining rule over an ethnically variegated empire.

Immigration
When faced with his father’s urging to go to Asia Minor to help his brother-in-law’s farm, Miltiades wished, instead, to go to America. He went on strike and refused to work or go to Asia Minor. Eventually, Miltiades's father bought him a ticket to Pennsylvania for $75 along with $5 of spare change and Miltiades moved to America in 1912. He would never return back to Greece for the rest of his life. In Pennsylvania, Miltiades lived in a communal house with fellow Greeks and worked as a laborer at the local steel mill. Six months after arriving in America, Miltiades sent $100 back to his father which would be the last time he interacted with his father due to his father's disappearance during World War I.



After a while of working at the steel mill, Miltiades went to work for The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad where he later became a foreman. Using this experience, he went to work for a different railroad where he ran a construction camp as a manager. However, during World War I, he lost his job and was forced to wash dishes in a café to earn a living.

Later Life
After moving around from Atlanta to Virginia, washing dishes and picking up odd jobs, Miltiades learned how to cook and found a job as a cook in a café in Kentucky where he worked for several years until the owner of the café went broke. Using the little savings he had as well as a loan from a Greek acquaintance, he was able to buy the café. This business venture would be short-lived as Miltiades was scammed out of money by his business partner who was embezzling funds from the café. Afterwards, Miltiades began his 2nd business in Martinsville, Virginia where he met his wife, who was from North Carolina. After a year, due to a lack of business, Miltiades decided to move down to North Carolina where he opened his current café in Asheville.

Rise of Greek Nationalism
The idea of Greek nationalism had emerged around the 18th century while under Ottoman rule and it rose rapidly during the early 19th century where it culminated in the Greek War of Independence and the subsequent result of Greece as an independent nation state in 1828. However, there was still a large number of Greek-speaking people who lived in Ottoman controlled territory and many wished to be united with Greece. The Megali Idea formed as a concept that was coined in 1844 by Ioannis Kolettis, a Greek politician, who advocated for the integration of all Hellenes - “Greek speakers who inhabited territory individuals who were once ruled by the ancient Greeks or medieval Byzantines” - into a single nation state. The Megali Idea would be a core component of Greek ideology for the next century and it dominated the political sphere. It was an idea that was rooted in Western notions of nationality and it led to a period where the national goal of Greece became the integration of all Greek-speaking Orthodox peoples into Greece through territorial expansion.

Greek Immigration During the 20th Century
Greek immigration to the United States first came after the Greek War of Independence but only began to occur in significant waves during the 1880s. Following the Greek War of Independence, Greece was plagued by multiple internal economic challenges and many Greeks lived in poverty. Spurred by this situation, large-scale Greek immigration saw more than 350,000 Greeks immigrate to the United States between 1900 and 1920. Around 90% of these immigrants were men who supported their families back home through remittance.



Upon arrival to the United States, Greek immigrants tended to work in textile mills, copper and coal mines, as well as on railroads. However, by the early twentieth century, many Greek immigrants began opening up businesses such as parlors and restaurants.