The timekeeper smiled at my mother as she arrived for work one morning in 1936. He knew her well, as he did all the employees at the WPA (Works Progress Administration), located at Columbia Circle in New York City. “I have another girl who is Greek working here,” he told Mom. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as he continued, “her name is Tessie Papoulias. Maybe you should meet her.”
Tessie Papoulias, 1940’s
The timekeeper introduced Mom and Tessie, who became close and abiding friends throughout their lives. Tessie’s family had just moved from Canton, Ohio to Astoria, New York. Many weekends, Tessie stayed with Mom at her home in Hoboken, New Jersey. They would take the ferry into New York City and ride the upper deck of the Fifth Avenue buses to go to lunch, movies or the theater. They were often accompanied by their sisters or one of Mom’s many cousins. “We always had a ball together,” Mom often said with a wistful smile.
l-r: Tessie Papoulias, Catherine Kostakos, Bessie Papoulias mid 1940’s
As my brother’s godmother, Tessie was a frequent visitor in our home. She was sweet natured with a gentle disposition and soft voice. I loved just being in her presence. Tessie’s untimely death in her 50’s was a shock that haunted my mother, perpetually, until her own death.
My heart was turned towards Tessie last month as I worked on digitizing my mother’s photographs (Their Pictures are My History). Tessie had married Ted Robertson later in life, but they never had children. Who will seek after her? I thought as I scanned her photos and gazed into her lovely face. She and Mom are together again now, enjoying an eternal friendship. Will she ever have the same blessings as my own family?
Prompted by a spirit of love, I began the hunt for Tessie. I started with just her name but ended up with vital statistics on her entire family: her parents, Andreas and Golfo; her sister, Bessie; her brothers, Peter and Nicholas and their families. In only four hours, I found data on each person in birth, death and marriage records, passenger ship manifests, military records, obituaries, city directories and news articles.
The facts are verified; the relationships confirmed. Another family is complete.
Today’s technology is advancing family history research in ways unthinkable just a few years ago: digitized images, indexed records and powerful search engines take away any and every excuse that research is too hard or tedious. It’s fun! It’s gratifying! And it is sacred work.
Families can be together forever. But not until they are found.
Carol Kostakos Petranek is a Co-Director of the Washington DC Family History Center and a Volunteer at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
