ROLL 2_TURKS GET OUT OF CYPRUS DEMONSTATION 1974_03A
Street photography has always been my passion and I got my money's worth when I photographed a protest against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on Michigan Avenue on August 19, 1974. While a student at the University of Illinois, Chicago it was my mission to document pivotal events in the life the Greek Community. When I arrived on the scene the demonstrators were held back by the FBI and Chicago Police Department at the Conrad Hilton when President Gerald Ford arrived to speak at a Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention as seen in Roll 1_ #35-36. The protest march continued north on Michigan Avenue with anti-Turkish signs and anti-Kissinger signs. The marchers staged a sit-in on Michigan Avenue while the Greek flag was waving on the balcony of the Bank of Greece Building in Roll 2_#23. . The people that I recognize include my Greek School teacher Mrs. Helen Georgopoulos-Panagakis in Roll 2_#8A with her arm outstretched to hold the crowd back who was a force to be reckoned with from the time she taught Greek language at Koraes Greek School, a principal of St. George Greek School, and the founder of Peiraikon Hellenic School. The second person that I recognize is Petros Kogeones in Roll 2_#9A-11A that is wearing a plaid sports coat and smoking a cigar who was the owner of Dianna’s Restaurant in Chicago’s Greektown. Also featured is Sam Carras in ROLL 2_#13A with his fists in the air under a black flag who is a relative of the Billy Goat Tavern, a downtown hangout for journalists from the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune newspapers, most notably Mike Royko. Both Helen and Petros can be seen in photographs from the Greek Independence Parades in an exhibit at the National Hellenic Museum called, "Gather Together: Street Photography by Diane Alexander White." The protest turned west on Randolph Street and continued onto the Richard J. Daley Center for speeches and songs of liberation.
