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The Georgetown Girls: Reconstructing a Family History
The Armenian Weekly April 2013 Magazine
(Download in PDF)
Last year, I had the opportunity to travel with my family to Armenia for the first time. The highlight of the trip was visiting with my grandfather’s brother’s family. Upon my return, the discussions we had about our family history spurred me to revisit the genealogical research I had begun more than 20 years ago.
Nevart on a camel with a person identified as Mrs. M
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Hello George,
I’m so delighted to read your article about your family and the girls.
It’s time that story was told!
thanks for your work and your dedication
Isabel
Thank you, what a beautiful and heart-rending story. The names from Kharpert are familiar. I don’t know exactly which orphanage my grandmother and her brother were in, but I believe they were at Mazrah. My great grandmother had graduated from the women’s college there.
George is too modest. He somehow managed to have authorities open files that had been sealed shut to everyone else. No matter the obstacles that stood in the way, George meticulously followed even the smallest piece of information to its very end. The Georgetown Boys’ farm should now be renamed in order for the title to be more inclusive of the 39 Georgetown Girls. Without George’s unrelenting research, this additional history of those girls would still be in a sealed box, most likely forever lost to us. He has gathered together an astonishing amount of historical data that gives all of us a better picture of the difficulties our survivors faced in the aftermath of the Genocide. My father’s closest friend, Kurken Magarian, was a Georgetown Boy. I remember overhearing his conversations with my father about the hardships and terrible loneliness he endured as an orphan child brought to a farm in Canada by the United Church. These children had lost their families, witnessed unimaginable horrors, and ended up in a country with a language and customs they knew nothing about. George has made a very valuable contribution to the preservation of our history.
Don’t we all Armenians have similar stories to tell?
Scattered all over the world somehow with the grace of God , we still survive and going strong until infinity.
I am astounded at George’s tenacity in pursuing every shred of evidence. In doing so, he has created another valuable resource for some others pursuing their Armenian heritage. If we only knew all the stories of our immigrant grandparents …
Thank you George! Great story. I never heard of Armenian name Pailoon. Only when I finished reading I realized it means shiny in Armenian. I’ve heard of Payliak, the guys version of this name before though.
George – thank you so much for all of your amazing forensic work, and for writing in both a factual and warm manner. Your article brought back vague stories from my own grandparents, and prompted me to do my own digging. Incidentally, I’m always told that my last name is quite rare (Malatyatzi); my father used to kid that somehow we were related to the former NFL great Ben Agajanian. I’m wondering if there’s an Aghjayan connection, too! Sincerely, Marty Ahlijanian
Hello,
We just discovered this website/article as well as the information on the “Georgetown Boys”. We are quite confident now that our father was one of the Georgetown Boys! Do you know where we can obtain further information and/or records? THANK YOU!
Thank you George for all your lengthy research and such a beautiful retelling of your family’s story. I remember my Grandmother Mary Alexanian talking about how they wanted to bring more girls to the farm, but there wasn’t a lot of room to create separate dormitories and not enough money to build another dormitory building. That may account for the reason that many of the Georgetown Girls were placed into domestic service in larger urban areas like Toronto.
My cousin and her husband have created a site with some more pictures of the Georgetown Boys and are looking for help identifying some of the boys. They asked that I pass the link along to anyone who might be interested.
http://www.georgetownboysphotos.com
My mother was one of the girls that came to Toronto, Hermine Garabedian and she married my father a Georgetown Boy. I have my fathers file with his story and letters but not my mothers. Where can I obtain hers?
Hello George
It seems that my mother and her sister may have been the 2 girls who arrived in
1926 to join to older sisters who were already in Canada. I have documents demonstrating their arrival in Halifax in April, 1926 and Mom on several occasions mentioned that a Rev. Pierce was instrumental is getting them to Canada. Mom was placed in a foster home with a Mr. Fred Higgins and all 4 sisters ultimately came to America. If you’d like to pursue their live further, I’d be happy to share what I know.
My mother Hermine Helen Garabedian Karajian also worked for Mr Higgins.
WOW Thank you George for this wealth of information,it’s fascinating. I wrote a book about The Georgetown Boys in 2019 -THE GEORGETOWN BOYS STORIES BY THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS- which was published in September 2019 – I was successful in locating and contacting 11 descendants of the “Boys” who graciously contributed stories about their parents – my book can be read online free of any charges just by Googling “Hrad Poladian” and downloading the PDF – the book has been sent to the 11 sons and daughters and to close friends and to major museums and government institutions. Getting back to the subject of the girls Jack Apramian wrote extensively about the boys but very little about the girls. Through Jack Apramian’s book we learn that Mariam Mazmanian ghirl #16 married Mampre Shirinian. Very little is known about the girls and what happened to them except that most of them worked as servants and nannies. I tried to get information about the girls from The United Church of Canada but was told because of privacy issues cannot have access to those files, all I have in my book is a list of the names of the girls.
My mother #15 Hermine Garabedian her friend Mariam Mazmanian #16 was my mother’s bridesmaid. My mother married #52 Georgetown Boy Khatchig Karajian. Mother’s brother #17 Georgetown Boy Jirair Garabedian. I have my mothers file.