WHITINSVILLE, Mass. — This tiny village in Central Massachusetts, the oldest Armenian community in the US, recently saw the unveiling of the Armenian Heritage Monument, on the grounds of Pine Grove Cemetery, the resting place of many of the ancestors of those attending the unveiling on November 2.
Members of Soorp Astavadzadzin Armenian Apostolic Church of Whitinsville and the general public took part in the dedication and blessing of the Heritage Monument by Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Church, Rev. Mikael Der Kosrofian, pastor of the Whitinsville Armenian church, and Fr. Gomidas Baghsarian and Fr. Aram Stepanian, led a prayer and dedication ceremony for the Armenian Heritage Monument. Attending the event were Northbridge Selectmen and State Rep. David Muradian, and many friends of the Armenian of Whitinsville.
Whitinsville is part of the town of Northbridge in Worcester County.
Armenian immigrants and refugees came to America to restart their lives after the long series of massacre and ultimately genocide between 1895 and 1923. Whitinsville and the mill and factory there provided shelter and jobs for several immigrant populations.
The construction of the monument intends to counter the actions that Azerbaijan has launched in the past century against Armenian heritage, first erasing any trace of Armenianness in Nakhijevan, and now, well on their way to doing it in Artsakh (Karabakh), after implanting an ethnic cleansing there of all native people.
As for Turkey, their efforts, of course, in the 19th and 20th centuries resulted in the Armenian Genocide.
