Object ID
2009.1.7.4
Object Name
Photograph
Medium
Photograph paper
Object Entities
Spanakos, Peter (is related to)
Object Description
Exterior, Peter Spanakos and family. Peter Spanakos, in a long-sleeved collared shirt, is in the middle with his son on the left in a sweatshirt and his wife on the other side in a sweater. They are sitting outside with windows, brick, and railings in the back.
Origin
Michael and Stella Spanakos came through Ellis Island and lived in Brooklyn, Michael came over in 1912 at the age of 16 and Stella came over in 1908 at the age of 6. They got married in 1927. In 1962 Stella was awarded New York State Mother of the Year by the Governor Nelson Rockefeller. That same year she was runner up for the National Mother of the Year. In 1964 the US Senator Kenneth Keating honored her as the USA Greek American mother of the year. In 1964 she led the Greek Independence Day Parade and the whole family was featured in a documentary called 'The American Story.' Their oldest son, Bill, graduated from Law School in 1953 and has an office with the third oldest son, John, in Bay Ridge. The fifth son, George, practices law with his two daugters in Brooklyn. The twins, Petros and Nikos, were born in 1938 and graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in 1956 then in 1960 from the College of Idaho on boxing scholarships. From 1952-1964 they won over 35 boxing titles, Petros was the Golden Gloves champion ten times in a row and Nikos won seven Golden Glvoes championships. In 1959 Petros won a bronze medal in the Pan-American Games and in 1960 Nikos was on Rome's Olympics team. In 1960 the twins and Cassius Clay, who is now Muhammad Ali, won the Western Golden Gloves at Soldier Field in Chicago and each won the 'Outstanding Fighter' trophy in their own weight class. The three also won the National Golden Gloves in 1960. In 1965 Petros graduated from a New York Law School and went on to spend most of his career as a counsler in the New York City Board of Education. Nikos has a Doctorate in Buisness Administrations and taught in the State University of New York system. The twins were inducted to the Hall of Fame at their high school, College of Idaho, and the Greek-American fraternal order A.H.E.P.A.
Rights and Reproduction
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Citation
Photograph, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/3449. Accessed 03/28/24.