Rt. Rev. Agapios Golam: Ancient Antiochian Orthodox Music at 78 RPM


Rt. Rev. Agapios Golam 

Rt. Rev. Agapios Golam, c. 1915

Archimandrite Agapios Golam (1882-1946) was born 23 October 1881 or 1882 and immigrated to the US from Greater Syria in 1912 via passage on the S.S. Martha Washington. He first lived in New York’s Little Syria neighborhood and later moved to Brooklyn with hundreds of other Syrian-Lebanese and Syrian Americans. Golam spoke Arabic, Greek, and English. In August 1916, he accompanied Archbishop Germanos Shehadi on his travels around the United States. Among their stops were a few days spent in the Syrian-Lebanese Community in Williston, North Dakota. A significant number of emigrants from the Ottoman Diaspora settled in North Dakota in the early 1900s and took advantage of Homesteading policies. 

The majority of people from Greater Syria who settled in North Dakota were from rural towns near Mount Lebanon, and this, in part, explains why they were attracted to farming in the equally rural Great Plains and Midwest. The majority were also Christian, although a small segment of the population were Muslim and later established a Mosque in Ross, North Dakota. The Williston Syrian-Lebanese community had not built or established an Orthodox Church yet, so the community attended and invited Shehadi and Golam to visit the Episcopal Church in town. During their stay both men were hosted by the Munyer, Jermanos, and Forsley families.  The most comprehensive study on these Arab American communities in North Dakota is Prairie Peddlers: The Syrian-Lebanese in North Dakota by William C. Sherman, Paul Whitney, and John Guerrero. 

Rev. Golam served as a minister at Saint Mary’s Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York in 1917.  He'd also hold the position of parish minister from 1928 to 1936. The death of Archbishop Victor Abou-Assaley in 1935, led to an attempt to unite the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America; Rev. Agapios Golam along with Bishop Samuel David of Toledo and Antony Bashir of Detroit (Ananias Kassab withdrew from consideration) appeared final ballot. The Antiochians, however, remained divided Antony Bashir became Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America and Samuel David held the title of Metropolitan and Archbishop of Toledo and Dependencies.

World War I Draft Card for Rev. Agapios Golam,
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

According to travel documents, Golam visited the United States between 1912 and 1915 and again from 1915 to 1921. He traveled to and from Beirut several times throughout his life. While some of his family immigrated to Toronto and Montreal, Canada. Golam lived in Montreal for some time and he and his brothers eventually applied for naturalized US citizenship. Agapios Golam and his brothers, Peter and Demetri Golam, became US citizens in 1920. Demetri ran a silk dresses manufacturing business and Peter worked as a bookkeeper for a grocery store in Brooklyn.  Rev. Golam shared an apartment with Archbishop Germanos Shehadi at 117 Centenary Street in Brooklyn in 1920. Archbishop Shehadi became known among the faithful for his golden voice and recorded on Saidaphon and Baidaphon. No doubt Golam felt inspired by Shehadi to sing and record his own records. 

During much of the 1920s and 1930s, Golam traveled to parishes across the United States officiating weddings, baptisms, funerals, and special services in Montana, Texas, Michigan, and Ohio.  He also conducted special services in Kingston, Jamaica's Anglican Church in 1928. Two years later, he lived with his two brothers, sister-in-law, and nephew at 143 Amity Street in Brooklyn. 

Great Falls (MT) Tribune, 3 November 1928. Courtesy of Newspapers.com.

For Easter, Demetri’s wife, Avgone, baked adas (Syrian Easter Bread) and ka’ak (made in the shape the crown Christ wore during his crucifixion) and some families practiced the tradition of “ta-hosh” or the egg tapping game.

Despite the presence of his name on the ballot as a candidate for Metropolitan and Archbishop of all North America, Golam continued the work of aiding local parishes around the country. In April 1936, Rev. Golam dedicated the new building for Saint Mary Orthodox Church in Wichita, Kansas. A year later, he served as pastor of the Hellenic Orthodox Holy Trinity Church in Waterbury, Connecticut; in 1940 he lived in nearby Ansonia, Connecticut. The circumstances that led him to Lorain, Ohio in 1942 remain unclear. Rev. Agapios Golam he died in Brooklyn, New York, 25 May 1946.

Rt. Rev. Agapios Golam, c. 1928

  The Consolidated Recording Corporation’s Electric Recording Laboratories recorded eight sides and pressed four phonograph records by Agapios Golam on the Golam’s Hymns label in 1921 or 1922. The songs are Byzantine chants or hymns. Consolidated regularly made customized records for individuals or institutions that wished to produce limited run recordings. The double-headed eagle represents the Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox Church and its Byzantine and Ancient Near East heritage. The sides included "Hymns of Jesus Birth" (#7169), "Christmas Hymn" (#2508), "Easter Hymns" (#7168), "Hymn of Mother of God" (#2508), "Glory to God In Highest" (#7166), "Today the Resurrection" (#35001), "O Holy God" (#53001), and "Hymns of Akathiston in Holy Lent" (#7167).

        
Hear Rt Rev. Agapios Golam, "Hymn of Jesus Birth" 
https://soundcloud.com/profbro/rev-agapios-golam-hymn-of-jesus-birth

 Hear Rt Rev. Agapios Golam,"Christmas Hymn"
https://soundcloud.com/profbro/golams-hymns-christmas-hymn-2508a

Hear Rt Rev. Agapios Golam,"Hymn of Mother of God"
https://soundcloud.com/profbro/golams-hymns-hymn-of-mother-of-god-2508b

Hear Rt Rev. Agapios Golam, "Today Resurrection"
https://soundcloud.com/user-369741458/rev-agapios-golam-today-resurrection-35001-b

Hear Rt Rev. Agapios Golam,  "Easter Hymn"
https://soundcloud.com/user-369741458/rev-agapios-golam-easter-hymns-i

The 78 rpm records pictured here were located and purchased at estate sales in La Crosse and Janesville, Wisconsin. In La Crosse, the records came from the estate of Siad Addis and his daughter Elaine Addis. Siad Addis (1880-1978) emigrated from Rachaya Al Foukhar, Greater Syria (today Lebanon) and worked as a mill worker for most of his life in La Crosse. He and his wife raised five sons and three daughters. His children took jobs as civil servants [postal carriers, fire fighters, state health services employees] and teachers. Siad, like other residents of the Syrian-Lebanese community, became actively involved in Midwest Federation of American Syrian Lebanese Clubs, founded in 1936. Since the building of Saint Elias Orthodox Church, Addis served as a congregational cantor. Sometimes this required him to stand for two and one half hours. In 1973, five years before his passing, the local newspaper, The La Crosse Tribune, featured Addis in a story that included the photograph below. In Janesville, these were a part of the George and Joseph Melan estate.

Siad Addis, c. 1973. Cantor at Saint Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church used phonograph records made by Rt. Rev. Agapios Golam to practice for services. Courtesy of the La Crosse Tribune.

Richard M. Breaux

© Midwest Mahjar 

Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA La Crosse, WI, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alexander Maloof: Guardian and Protector of Syrian Music in America

Image
Alexander R. Maloof (1884-1956)  This photograph of Alexander Maloof appeared in his 1924 Oriental Piano Music by Alexander Maloof: Syrian Popular Folk Songs From Richard M. Breaux collection. One of the most prolific and versatile composers, producers, orchestra leaders, and business owners in the first five decades of the twentieth century was Alexander R. Maloof. Collectors of 78 rpm records have written quite a bit about Maloof. His 78 rpm records are still highly sought after. Much of what has been published about Maloof’s personal and professional life is filled with contradictions about birthdate, death date, and place of death, but it’s our hope to shed some light on the complex life of this father of Arab American music. Depending on what sources one consults, Alexander Maloof was either born in 23 January 1884 or 1885, the second of six children to Abraham and Hanna Maloof in Zahlé, Greater Syria (now Lebanon). The Maloofs immigrated to the U...
Read more

Albert Rashid: Rashid Sales Company, Al-Chark /the Orient and the Largest Selection of Arabic Records in the United States

Image
Albert Rashid A young Albert Rashid. Southeastern High School, The Aryan Yearbook, 1930, p.61. Courtesy of Ancestry.com  Depending on whether you’re an old timer who purchased your 78 RPM Arabic music discs via mail order in the 1930s from Detroit or you visited one of the brick and mortar locations of Rashid Sales Company on E. 28 th Street in Manhattan or the 191 Atlantic Avenue site in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, or 155 Court Street store in the 1990s and 2000s, Albert Rashid became known for one of three things – Arabic-language film and soundtrack distribution, his Al-Chark or Orient Record label, or his world famous record and music store Rashid Sales Company. By World War II’s end, in Brooklyn, New York, Rashid’s Al-Chark label and Fred Alam’s Alamphon engaged in a friendly but heated competition that rivaled that of Alexander Maloof’ s Washington Street-based Maloof Records  and Albert J. Macksoud’s records in the 1920s. Based on which ...
Read more

The Incomparable Kahraman and Naif Agby - The Sun and The Planets

Image
Kahraman and Naif Agby  Olga "Kahraman" Agby, 17 April 1958, Caravan. Naif Agby, El Debke; author's collection. The 78-RPM era overlapped with the first two waves of Arab immigrants to the United States. The first was roughly 1880 to 1944 and the second spanned approximately from 1944 to 1966. While we can situate a few of the musicians on Arab and Arab American 78 rpm records to the first wave, most first wave musicians enjoyed careers that encompassed both eras. Still others, like Sana and Amer Khadaj , Odette Kaddo , Hanaan , and Naif Agby and Kahraman, who recorded on Alamphon, Orient Records, Sun Records, and Alkawakeb, clearly make up the second wave. It is remarkable, although not surprising, that most of these musicians not only knew each other, but performed together live and on record.   Nayeh Ejbeh or Naif Agby was born in Ehden, Greater Syria (now Lebanon) to Wadah Yamin and Joseph Ejbeh on either 22 June or 27 December 1920. He bega...
Read more

The Many Facets of Louis Wardiny

Image
Elias Louis Nassour Wardiny (Oud, Singer, Producer, Owner) This lone image of Louis Wardini, 6 September, 1935, Indianapolis Star . Louis Nassour Wardiny  (sometimes Ilyas Wardini) was born 5 March 1894 in Beirut, Greater Syria (today Lebanon) to Nassour and Clemence Wardini . Some documents suggest he immigrated to the United States around 1904 with his family and, for part of his life, lived in Little Syria in Lower Manhattan. Other documents mark his arrival in April 1913, coming to the US from Beirut to La Harve and then New York City. Immigration documents note the change of name from Elias to Louis and give his occupation as both bookkeeper and singer at various points. In 1917, when the Victor Talking Machine Company still expressed interest in Arab recording artists, Wardiny debuted with 12 sides on six records. While Arab immigrant market clambered to hear more from Wardiny, Victor executives soon shifted direction away from its Arabic and Greek immigr...
Read more

Hanan: “Don’t Miss Her Wherever She Will Be!!!”

Image
Hanan/ Hanaan (Jeanette Hayek Harouni) Hanan/Hanaan,  Caravan 12 January 1956. Courtesy of Newspapers.com   Only a handful of Arab or Arab American singers were known and are remembered by a single name. There was Asmahan, Karawan, Kahraman , and, of course – Hanan or Hanaan !            Hanaan or Hanan was born Jeanette Nehme Hayek on 8 November 1929 in Beirut, Lebanon. She was one of five children born to Jacob Hayek and Wadiha Atik Hayek. Ironically, the same year Jeanette’s birth the first Lebanese film, The Adventures of Mabrouk , was released. Jeanette displayed the talents of an actor and singer early on and received classical Arabic music training. Jeanette first traveled to Brazil in 1947 and again in 1948 to perform in concert with Wadih Saffi. Jeanette's mother accompanied her on the trip.  Compare and contrast two of Hanan's four identity documents for Brazil. One gives her birth y...
Read more

Mohamed Said ZainEldeen: Fragments in the Life of an Early Columbia Records' Tenor

Image
Mohamed Said ZainEldeen:  Fragments in the Life of an Early Columbia Records' Tenor Mohamed Said ZainEldeen. Photo Courtesy of Richard Z.  There are several early-period Arab American musicians for whom we have so little information we can hardly compose a narrative that provides anything other than the most basic biographical information. Walim Kamel and Zakia Agob are among them. For others, we have slightly more, but still incomplete information.  The tenor   M. ZainEldeen   stands out as one.   We've long had one M. ZainEldeen 78 RPM record and most recently, after we undertook piecing together scraps of his biographical information, we acquired another. As usual, we scoured over immigration documents, U.S. Census data, city directories, and three-quarters of the way through, we located and corresponded with surviving relatives - here's what we found.  Mohamed ZainEldeen was born 1 November 1892 in Homs, Syria. Originall...
Read more

Fadwa Abeid: An Arab American Singer Finds a More Lucrative Career in the Arab World

Image
Fadwa Abeid or Fadwa Abed Fadwa Abed in 1954 at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. Fordson Yearbook (1954), 144. Courtesy of Ancestry.com  Since we launched Midwest Mahjar, rare has been the opportunity to speak to any of the artists who performed during the 78 RPM era. Most are no longer with us. We've communicated with the children of some musicians. Family members we've managed to track down include the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of 78-era Arab American musicians. "Fadwa Obeid" is on a Wiki-list of living Lebanese women singers, but with no birthdate or link to additional information. An Arabic-language Wikipedia entry offers information about the height of her career in the 1970s and makes vague reference to her retirement, but says nothing of her early life, early career, or life in retirement.  Imagine our surprise when researching Arab American singer Fadwa Abeid, we located contact information for her.     ...
Read more

“PRINCE” Albert Joseph: An Arab American Record Shop Dealer in Western Pennsylvania Aides Palestinian Refugees

Image
  “PRINCE” Albert Joseph: An Arab American Record Shop Dealer in Western Pennsylvania Aided Palestinian Refugees Alamphon Record with Albert Joseph dealer/seller stamp. Courtesy of Frank J. Dalton. Back in November 2020, we received a generous donation of about ninety 78-rpm Arabic records from retired dentist Joe Corey, who grew up in West Virginia. Mr. Corey contacted us because his friend, fellow church member, and labor lawyer, David Khorey, came across some of our Arab American musician profiles featured on the Arab America news website. Over dinner, and pleasant discussion about Arab American history, David asked me, “Do you know how people got their records?”   I replied, “Some people ordered records from a catalogue and had them shipped from New York. Also, dealers likely sold records as vendors at regional SOYO meetings, mahrajan, hafla, and regional Syrian-Lebanese club conventions.” He then recalled a well-known vendor from his youth in western Pennsylvania who dre...
Read more

Odette Kaddo: Arab music, it gives me Life!

Image
Odette Kaddo Odette Kaddo, 1956. From 23 May 1957, The Caravan.   One of the major differences between first wave and second wave Arab immigrant musicians to the United States is the enormous amount of press coverage Arab expressive culture received in the Arab American press during and after World War II. This is the case for both Arab-language and English-language newspapers targeted at readers of Arab descent. Careful study of Al-Hoda newspaper in the 1910s and 1920s and The Syrian World in the 1920s and 1930s turned up very little information about Arab or Arab American record labels and musicians during this era.  Similar examination of the Arab American press during and after World War II yielded exponentially more about the haflas, mahrajans, phonograph record labels, and musicians popularly known in Arab American communities across the United States. The growth and technological developments in recorded sound after WWII meant that secon...
Read more