Panel: Murder at the Altar:
The Context and Legacy of the Abp. Tourian Murder After 75 Years
Featuring:
Terry Phillips
Dr. Ben Alexander
Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian
Dr. Dikran Kaligian
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On December 24, 1933, an event occurred in Washington Heights in New York City that shocked the world and opened a chasm in the Armenian-American community: Archbishop Ghevont (Leon) Tourian was stabbed to death as he walked down the aisle of Holy Cross Armenian Church. Nine men, all members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, were tried and found guilty of taking part in the crime.
For most of the 75 years since this event, there has been little serious discussion of what the larger causes of this event were and what have been the long-term repercussions. Our panelists are among the very few who have ventured beyond polemics to reach a deeper understanding of an event that still shapes Armenian-American life. Neither an attempt to "reopen old wounds" nor to point fingers, this is an attempt to break the silence and engage in a thoughtful exploration of a tragic and polarizing event.
Journalist Terry Phillips is the author of the carefully-researched historical novel Murder at the Altar (2008) that recreates the events of December 1933 and depicts a later attempt of a fictional journalist to learn the truth.
Historian Dr. Ben Alexander's dissertation, Armenian and American: The Changing Face of Ethnic Identity and Diasporic Nationalism, 1915-1950, deals in part with the issues surrounding the Tourian murder. In 2007 his article "Contested Memories: Divided Diaspora: Armenian Americans, the Thousand-Day Republic, and the Polarized Response to an Archbishop's Murder" was published in the Journal of American Ethnic History.
Father Stepanos Doudoukjian wrote his Master's thesis at St. Nersess Seminary on "Oral History: An Intergenerational Study of the Effects of the Assassination of Abp. Leon Tourian in 1933 on Armenian Americans." He is Pastor of St. Peter Armenian Church, Watervliet, NY, and Director of Youth and Vocations at St. Nersess Seminary.
Historian Dr. Dikran Kaligian is the author of the forthcoming Armenian Organization and Ideology under Ottoman Rule, 1908-1914 (Transaction). In 2007 he was visiting professor of Modern Armenian History and Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University and he serves as Associate Editor of the Armenian Review.
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September 17, 2008
NAASR Headquarters
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA
Presented by:
The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)