Object ID
2003.57.2
Object Name
Paperweight
Date Created
May 17, 1964
Material
Marble; Steel; Wood
Object Entities
Object Description
PAPERWEIGHT GROUND BREAKING OF HOLY APOSTLES GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH.

Silver scoop or flat, mini, shovel with a black wooden handle. The top of the main shoveling part is engraved with what seems to be a mini blueprint of the church alone with the inscriptions, "Ground Breaking, May 17, 1964, Holy Apostles Church". This object is mounted on a marble block with a piece of green felt underneath the marble block, transforming this into a paperweight.
Origin
During the late 1940s and 1950s, many Greek Orthodox families moved out of Chicago to the suburbs. As a result, on March 20, 1953, the officers of the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago authorized a group of their parish members to organize a new parish in the western suburbs.

In 1961 the parish, consisting of 280 families, purchased a five-acre tract of land on South Wolf Road in Westchester, Illinois, for $43,000. As the parish grew, the building committee chose the firm of Edward D. Dart to design and direct construction of a new church building. The parish General Assembly approved plans for the construction in November 1963. On May 17, 1964 the ground breaking ceremony was held and construction commenced on June 6, 1964. On Sunday, September 13, 1964 the cornerstone was set, followed by the long anticipated "Opening of the Doors" on Sunday, June 27, 1965.
Rights and Reproduction
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Citation
Paperweight, May 17, 1964, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/7140. Accessed 03/19/24.