Conversations about forced migration with colleagues across campus led F&M Associate Professor of Art History Kostis Kourelis on a research journey to discover the location of Washingtonia, a 19th-century refugee settlement on the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece.

Kourelis said conversations with other F&M faculty during the refugee crisis in 2017 prompted him to consider other moments of forced migration and the experiences of refugees throughout history, especially in Greece. 

“There’s a movement within archaeology—as well as at F&M—to make migration visible,” Kourelis said.

Faculty from various departments brought distinct perspectives from their own disciplines to the issue, eventually resulting in an international studies seminar on the topic and a certificate in forced migration—one of ten F&M certificate programs currently offered. It also influenced the direction Kourelis took with his own research.

"When you think of architecture, you think of things that are permanent, that are monumental. But housing for refugees is put up very quickly, and very quickly it disappears from the landscape."

Kostis Kourelis, Associate Professor of Art History

As part of a research team that included faculty from Messiah University and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Kourelis used archival materials and modern technology to identify the location of Washingtonia.

Named after George Washington, Washingtonia was established in 1829 by Samuel Gridley Howe, an American physician and abolitionist, in cooperation with the governor of Greece. It housed over 200 families who had been displaced during the 1821-1829 Greek War of Independence. 

The colony included farmland, homes, a school and a hospital, but ultimately collapsed within a few years due to crop failures and political instability. By the 1830s, its exact location had become a mystery. The research team used information from Howe’s journals along with aerial photographs and geographic information system (GIS) software to rediscover the remaining structures. 

The work to find Washingtonia demonstrates how an archaeological lens can be applied to the more recent past. “When we think of Greece, we mostly think of antiquity,” Kourelis said, adding it’s just as important to consider the past few centuries and how they influence the present.

That more contemporary approach is also necessary for studying structures—like temporary housing for refugees—that are by their nature impermanent. 

“When you think of architecture, you think of things that are permanent, that are monumental,” Kourelis said. “But housing for refugees is put up very quickly, and very quickly, it disappears from the landscape.”

Uncovering these sites also raises questions of how to preserve and commemorate the conflicts that led to them. That approach can differ depending on the specifics of each site, according to Kourelis. “What remains of the actual structures? And how do you turn them into sites of memory?”

The location of Washingtonia, a 19th-century refugee settlement, was discovered on the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece.

Established in 1829, Washingtonia housed over 200 families who had been displaced during the 1821-1829 Greek War of Independence. The colony included farmland, homes, a school and a hospital. 

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