These pictorial images of Greek heritage illustrate the people and events that have shaped the culture and history of Tarpon Springs.

Beginning in 1905, large numbers of Greeks from the Dodecanese and Saronic Gulf islands settled in Tarpon Springs to work in the sponge business. They significantly expanded the industry and changed Tarpon Springs forever. Greektown flourished with residences, stores, churches, restaurants, and recreational facilities stretching from the sponge docks to downtown. Sponge fishing and related activities served as the economic base for the community. By 1913, as many as half of Tarpon Springs residents were reputedly Greek, and many businesses displayed both Greek and American flags. Today, Tarpon Springs' Greek community preserves a strong ethnic and maritime heritage. While some major US cities have a larger Greek population, no other has a greater percentage with Greek heritage than Tarpon Springs.

Since 1973, the Latin/Greek Institute (LGI) at the City University of New York has trained thousands of students in the classical languages. After 50 days of highly choreographed study, graduates of the Institute’s basic Latin and Greek programs—who enter with little or no prior knowledge—are able to engage in advanced reading courses and/or sit for graduate language exams. This is a remarkable feat made possible by a unique curricular model developed by the Institute’s visionary founder, Dr. Floyd L. Moreland. A summer at the LGI is almost impossible to describe; it is as much an experience as a program of study. Largely assembled from the archives of Brooklyn College, this book tells the story of the Latin/Greek Institute from its prehistory to its 50th anniversary and includes a visual history of its academics, dramatis personae, and an array of customs and traditions that have come to define this unique academic enterprise.

Lucas G. Rubin is a two-time alumnus of the Latin/Greek Institute, of which he became director in 2020. He holds a doctorate in classics from the State University of New York at Buffalo, an accomplishment made possible only by his summers spent at the Institute.

Greeks in Queens is an interesting history of this often unwritten about New York community.

By the early 1900s, New York was becoming a melting pot for immigrants hailing from different nations. Though many settlers chose Manhattan as their home, others ventured forward into the borough of Queens. America itself was named the land of opportunity, and Greeks seeking those opportunities developed the largest Greek community outside of Athens in Astoria. Through the growth of the Greek community came Greek Orthodox schools and churches, the earliest in Queens being St. Demetrios, built in 1927, and Greek-owned businesses, especially catering halls like Crystal Palace, coffee shops (that now line busy Astoria streets), and diners. These establishments gave this special community a place to gather together and secure its standing and future in New York. Greeks in Queens traces the immigrant journey from Greece to America and shows how the Greeks—through wars, hard work, education, and dedication—developed a thriving and much larger community than their predecessors thought possible.