Stories
Stories is a page where we look at important histories, events and organizations that have played a prominent role in the life of the Georgian Diaspora in the US. We start with the history of the Gurian trick riders who were among the first Georgian immigrants in the US. This is where the history of the Georgian Diaspora begins its life in the US in the 1890s.
A new wave of Georgian immigrants arrived in the USA after the fall of the Georgian Democratic Republic (1918-21). Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Georgians outside the USSR left European shores for the New World. Many of them had great success as engineers, artists, and entrepreneurs. You can read about some of them on our biographies page. They established both journals and émigré organizations in America’s large cities, such as New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. We feature here two of the most successful émigré organizations designed to unite Georgians resident in the USA, to provide support for new arrivals, to lobby Washington DC on matters of concern to Georgians, to promote Georgian culture and to aid compatriots in need in both the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. We provide links here to the Georgian Association in the USA, the first Georgian Diaspora organization in the USA founded in 1932, and to the American Friends of Georgia, fa charitable foundation established by Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff in 1994.
Georgia remained part of the USSR until 1991, but was not forgotten as a captive nation withing the Soviet system. The Cold War was fought over the international airwaves as well in Europe, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. The US established Voice of America in 1942 to broadcast against Nazi propaganda. After WWII, the focus was on combatting disinformation from the USSR and the new Soviet states of Eastern Europe. In 1951, as part of the VOA ‘s improved understanding of the USSR’s “nationality question,” a Georgian service was established, alongside separate language services for Estonians, Latvians, Azerbaijanis, Tatras and others. Based in Washington DC, the VOA Georgian Service became a magnet for Georgian emigres and activists. It was central to sustaining and promoting the Georgian Diaspora Community in the USA. We provide here a brief history and timeline of the VOA Georgian Service along with its major personalities and VOA features about the Georgian Diaspora here in the US. We add our own assessment of VOA’s impact and legacy on the Georgian community in the USA.
