About the Book
"Demetrios is Now Jimmy:"
Greek Immigrants in the Southern United States 1895-1965,
written by Lazar "Larry" Odzak,
explores the arrival of Greek immigrants to the southern urban areas, in the early
1900s, and their remarkably rapid adjustment and acculturation to life in the New
South. Although there was no “melting pot,” these newcomers swiftly adapted to the
evolving and singularly American social, economic, and political tenets, even as
they retained and adjusted some of their own cultural and religious traditions. The
majority of these immigrants became small entrepreneurs and achieved some economic
prosperity, which was at the root of their successful adaptation and settlement in
the southern cities.
New ground is also covered by examining specific cases where the immigrant group
was just large enough to create its own viable community, but lacked the “critical
mass” of large immigrant communities where Old World cultures survived longer and
slowed down the process of acculturation and adjustment to American ways.
