Mary Bedoian

Description

Transcription

00:09 - 00:18
Gregory Jundanian (GJ): First we'll start with, I just want to say thank you very much for doing this. This is going to be on the website for the Armenians of Whitinsville site, and it will also be at the University of Southern California.
00:19 - 00:20
Mary Bedoian (MB): Yeah.
00:20
GJ: As I explained earlier.
00:21
MB: Right.
00:23
GJ: And why don’t we start with, maybe, say your name and birthday.
00:27
MB: Okay.
00:28 - 0:31
GJ: And where we are today, and what the date is? Which I think is the–
00:32
MB: 13th.
00:32
GJ: 13th.
00:33
MB: Of January.
00:33
GJ: Friday the 13th!
00:34 - 00:36
MB: I know, I know.
00:37
GJ: Okay.
00:38 - 00:48
MB: I know, that’s what I thought, right. But…okay, so, you asked my name? Mary Bedoian.
00:49 - 00:50
GJ: Okay. And your birthday, Mary?
00:51 - 01:02
MB: August 18, you know, you’re gonna put an 8…August 18th, 1941. So, you’re gonna put an 8/18/1941? How do you wanna–how did you put it down? 
01:03 - 01:05
GJ: I’m not going to write anything down. We’re just doing this for the video.
01:06 - 01:07
MB: Oh.
01:07 - 01:10
GJ: Just so I know. This is mainly for if I have questions, you know, I can think and–
01:11 - 01:12
MB: Oh, I see
01:13 - 01:15
GJ: So, August 8th, 1941.
01:16 - 01:17
MB: Correct. August 18.
01:17 - 01:19
GJ: August 18th, 1941.
01:19
MB: Right.
01:20 - 01:23
GJ: And where are we today?
01:23 - 01:24
MB: Our date today?
01:25 - 01:26
GJ: No, where are we, and what is the date?
01:27 - 01:30
MB: We are at 177 Stone Hill Drive.
01:31 - 01:41
MB: Whitinsville, Mass. And we–and the date is January 13, 2023.
01:42 - 01:58
GJ: Great. So, I'm not sure where we'd like to start. But maybe the best place to start is with what you know of your parents’ history. And then we can build the story from there. Like, do you know–did you–for instance, did you ever know your grandparents?
01:58
MB: No.
01:59
GJ: Okay.
02:00 - 02:44
MB: They were…they…they…they…my mother’s…my father’s people, they’re in the Syrian…their bones are in the Syrian desert. He had, you know…her name was, you know…I, you know…Maryam, so that’s why I got named after her…him. And, and his, he only had a brother. It was 14 years old. And his name was Haroutioun. That’s how my brother Harry got his name. And like I said and that, you know, she typed it out. He was 14. My father just said he was a redhead. That’s all he said. He was 14 years old and a redhead. That's all.
02:45
GJ: That’s all you know about him.
02:45 - 02:47
MB: That’s all I know about him.
02:48 - 02:55
GJ: And your father’s name was–what was your father’s name? Your grand–you said your grandfather–so Haroutioun was your great-uncle?
02:56 - 03:00
MB: Was my…would actually be my uncle.
03:01
GJ: Your uncle. Okay.
03:02
MB: Right.
03:03 - 3:05
So your dad’s name was…?
03:06
MB: Khatchadour.
03:07
GJ: Khatchadour.
03:08 - 03:12
MB: But Americans, they didn't…you know…they–they called him Archie.
03:12 - 03:14
GJ: And was it Bedoian?
03:15 - 03:38
MB: Yeah. And actually it should be spelled with a “y-a-n.” But when he came to Ellis Island, they put “i-a-n.” See, and I happened to see in the Armenian newspaper that there is someone…or in that AGBU magazine…there is someone who uses the name “B-e-d-o-y-a-n.” The correct pronunciation…you know, the correct–
03:39 - 03:45
MB: That’s how it should have been. My father said it’s not “Bedoian,” it’s “BedoyAN.”
03:45 - 03:47
GJ: “BedoyAN.” Beautiful.
03:48
MB: Yeah.
03:49 - 03:52
GJ: So, Khatchadour…Do you know anything about Khatchadour’s parents?
03:53 - 04:04
MB: Yeah. His…his…this is what?...He…his father died at age…his father died at age 45.
04:05 - 05:42
MB: Mozi Mantashigian told us the story because when…when…when he, you know…we didn’t know the full story. His father had…they were big land owners over in…I don’t know what, you know, that…I don’t know the exact town but he used to call it Kharpert, Adana. That’s all I remember him saying. And his father died at age 45. They were big landowners. He had gambled…most of the land off. He was a gambler. And so he…so he…and he died young. Mozi Mantashigian told us the story and, you know, and so he had my, my father…my grandfather…my grandmother had remarried to an Armenian guy. And he had…he had two sons, from…I guess his wife had died. And my father said they were going to a school, they were being educated, but they never educated my father. He was going to be a farm boy. So my father never had education, you know. So when he came to America… that he had a…that he couldn’t read the blueprints, he couldn’t…you know…he wasn’t educated. So, you know, he couldn't make…he had…he was the lowest one paid in that Whitin Machine Works because he wasn't educated. You know, he couldn't read…and write English.
05:43 - 05:48
GJ: So his mom–so what happened to his half brothers?
05:48 - 05:50
MB: Yeah, you know what?
05:50
GJ: What?
05:51 - 05:53
MB: They're in that Syrian desert. Their bones.
05:55 - 05:59
GJ: And his mother and father are also—there’s a mother and stepfather there also, I assume?
06:00 - 06:28
MB: Right. All were marched into the Syrian desert without food and water. And that’s…that’s…see, you know, the Turks. You know that, at the time, you know, the Germans told them, you know. You…the Germans helped do this, you know. They didn’t…the German missionary would write, you know, there were German missionaries over there. They would write to the German government that, you know, what the Armenians were going through, but nothing was done.
06:29 - 06:33
GJ: And the Germans were over there building railroads and they were partners with Turkey–
06:34 - 06:47
MB: Right! The Baghdad-Berlin Express, and like my brother Harry said, at that time there was an American Secretary of State who wanted to…he wanted…he was interested in that. He wanted to cash in on that Baghdad–
06:47
GJ: Mm-hmm.
06:47 - 06:51
MB: The Berlin-Baghdad Express…train.
06:52 - 06:59
GJ: And...So when your dad came here, how did he come here?
07:00 - 07:25
MB: Guess what? His–his mother didn’t have him the money. His uncle…his uncle…and I, that’s what I don’t know, what uncle it was. His father’s side or his mother’s side? He just said “my uncle” gave him the money to come to Ellis Island. And he came just with enough money to Ellis Island, New York. You know, he came with his shirt on his back.
07:25 - 07:27
GJ: And how old was he?
07:28 - 07:32
MB: At that time–he was trying to say he was 16, but my brother Harry figures he was 18.
07:33 - 07:36
GJ: Mm-hmm. And he came alone.
07:37 - 07:44
MB: No, he came with Mozi Mantashigian because that was his cousin. Mozi Mantashigian was his cousin–who lived on Spring Street?
07:45
GJ: Right.
07:46 - 08:23
MB: His…his…He came with Mozi’s father, that was his uncle. Mozi Mantashigian’s father was his uncle. Mozi was better educated. See, Mozi’s father educated him more than my father. You know, because he had money. He came, and he…he put Mozi Mantashigian right into barber school. So Mozi never put a day in that Whitin Machine Works. He went to barber school. He had his own barber business in the–in the New Village section.
08:23 - 08:31
GJ: Mm-hmm. So, what did your dad do? Well, first of all, how about your mother’s side of the family?
08:31 - 08:57
MB: Mother’s side of the family? There was…my mother’s side of the family…there was a hundred thousand Armenians living in Smyrna, Greece, now called Izmir, Turkey. They went on that in…they went seven years after the Armenian Genocide. They wanted the Greek land because it had the seaports, where all the money is.
08:57
GJ: Mm-hmm.
08:58 - 09:43
MB: So my mother says that at 9 o’clock at night, in 1922, they had come. The Turks knocked on the door and took her father away. And the Turks–the Turks would not let them have any knives. They checked the…she said my grandmother had…had…had kept one little knife. She hid it in this, like, underneath the cellar steps or somewhere…hid it behind something, behind the cellar steps or something like that, she said. And…so she could cut the bread. You know, those countries, it was, you know–
09:44 - 09:48
MB: They didn’t have no sliced bread. They…it… you know, the breads were round–
09:49 - 10:26
MB: And she wanted a…something to slice it with. And so she just…but the Turks would check if you have any knives in the house, and luckily she slipped it. And so…and she dressed my…her…her… her…they would have took him too, her brother. He was, at the time, he was, you know, of age to be drafted. And…because he was 20 years old, he could have been, you know…
10:27 - 11:37
MB: She dressed him up as a woman…put a dress on him, and a kerchief. At five o’clock in the morning, she took him down to the pier and got him on a British boat…a British boat. And he had…he had…he was already working in restaurants. And so he…he started peeling potatoes in the…in the boat. You know, in the kitchen, he went right to the kitchen because he…he…he…he…he…he was like a waiter in the…in the Smyrna restaurant. And they said to him…why don’t you come to London? They wanted…they wanted him to work on that boat. You know, as a kitchen helper. They said, why don’t you come, we’ll take you to London? You know…go…you know. And he said no, I…I can’t go, I…I got my mother and sister still…that I gotta…you know…you know…I can’t go. So he just…they dropped him off in Athens, Greece.
11:38 - 11:40
GJ: And what happened to him?
11:42 - 13:24
MB: He got a job, because he was a waiter in a restaurant. He got a job in a wealthy…a wealthy…Greek…a wealthy Greek family hired him because he, you know…and so he got a job setting up the tables in…in this wealthy Greek family. Set the table, and do things, you know…because he knew how to do all that. And so he was…he was…there. And then my mother and her…and her…of course, before this, my father had gone just before. Three weeks before, three weeks before, he had gone. See, my father went, left America, he had worked in the factories…see, he had made enough money. He went to Smyrna, Greece, because he couldn’t go…he says, I went there…he says, I couldn’t go back to Adana, Kharpert, I couldn’t go back. My…you know, the Turks. So he went there, and three…and he asked my grandmother. He was on the streets, and she was on the streets in Smyrna, Greece. He says, “where is the Armenian church?" Well, she took him into the…she took him to the house. And she made her daughter marry my father. Her daughter was 16. My mother didn’t want to get married. She was only 16 years old. And she made her get married.
13:25 - 13:26
GJ: How old was your dad then?
13:26
MB: Huh?
13:27 -13:28
GJ: How old was your dad?
13:28 - 14:27
MB: He was…we figure 26 years old. 10 years older. She made her get married. You know what she went and did? My mother said, she went…because her father was a tailor, she got a white dress. Her father was a tailor, you know, before the Turks took him…away and killed him. She got a white dress somewhere in the house, and she took this…this…this “amanchaman”, she called it. Some kind of pan that was an heirloom in her family, you know, that passed down from her mother and generations. And she took that to a pawn shop, and she got this - my mother says, a necklace. She told the pawn shop dealer, “here, take this…take this, I want that necklace.” My mother said she came home, put the necklace on her, and made her get married.
14:28 - 14:36
So then, how do they come from Smyrna to the United States? Did her…Did your grandmother come also?
14:37 - 15:02
MB: No, no. She came, but this is what happened. Okay, they ran down to the pier. My mother and her…my mother and her grandmother. And, like I told you, the British and French boats were in that pier. But they wouldn’t let them on. And the Japanese boat is the one that let them on.
15:03 - 15:08
GJ: Let who on? Your grandmother and your mother?
15:09 - 15:11
MB: Oh, yeah. Armenians and Greeks who were there.
15:11 - 15:14
GJ: And so your…At this point, where is your dad?
15:15 - 15:16
MB: He was in America.
15:16 - 15:17
GJ: He came back to America?
15:17 - 15:20
MB: He had just gone…Oh, yeah. He had just left two to three weeks…before.
15:21 - 15:25
GJ: So he got married, and then he returned to the United States.
15:25
MB: Right.
15:26 - 15:32
GJ: Did your mother ever say anything about the wedding? Or was it just…You go to the priest…
15:33 - 15:41
MB: Oh yeah. My mother just said, you know…I don’t know, you know, about that part. But she said, “I didn’t want to get married. I was only 16 years old. But my mother forced me.”15:44 - 15:50
GJ: So then, your dad’s back in the United States, and your mother and grandmother–
15:44 - 16:36
MB: One year, they…they ate out of garbage cans. And finally, they went to the Armenian church, and my uncle had put his name on the bulletin board. So they went to that…that Greek house…that rich…that the Greeks had, this rich family. And…and…but in the meantime, one year they…they ate out of garbage cans, my mother and her…she told me. And when…when the…when my mother said when the…when the Japanese boat landed in Athens, Greece, my mother said they…they…went into…she called it a bar room. She said they just put the table…these chairs on top of the table, and let the people sleep on the floor.
16:39 - 16:40
GJ: And then she found…her son–
16:41 - 16:44
MB: Then in one year she…her and her mother ate out of garbage cans and my–
16:45
GJ: In Greece?
16:46
MB: In Athens,
16:46
GJ: In Athens.
16:47 - 16:48
MB: Oh yeah. They were refugees.
16:48
GJ: Yeah.
16:49 - 16:57
MB: And then, they went to the Armenian Church. And they happened to see his name on the…he had put his name on a bulletin board–
16:58 - 17:41
MB: In the Armenian Church in Athens, Greece. And…so they went, my mother said, to the house. To, you know…knocked on the door, she said, and the…and the rich woman came to the door. It’s a sad story. She said, “Melkon Abrahamian, is this your mother and sister?” And he said, “yes.” And she said, “Well make them take their clothes off.” They had all lice infested. Never took a…you know, never took a bath for one year. They were…so they took their clothes off outside before they could come in the house.
17:42
GJ: Wow.
17:43 - 17:58
MB: And she let them bathe…you know…you know, take a bath. Yeah. So it’s a very sad story. It’s…it’s no…you know…it’s no little game when you’re a refugee. And this is what’s happening in Syria…Syrian refugees right now.
18:00 - 18:29
MB: And…and…and actually, those…there’s Armenians now in Nagorno-Karabakh. They gotta leave their…you know, and all those soldiers went now. I mean, the Turks…Guess what I just saw on the Internet? You know what they’re doing in Uganda? South Africa? They’re gonna build a railroad for this…Uganda…South Africa. They’re now not gonna do it with the Chinese. They were gonna do it with the Chinese. Now the Turks got the–
18:29
GJ: Contract.
18:29
MB: Contract.
18:31 - 18:41
GJ: So…your mom…Your grandmother, and her two children in Athens. How did…Did Melkon come to the United States? Did he ever get married?
18:42 - 18:54
MB: No. He got…he…he…he…he stayed in Athens, and..and…he had a…he got married to an Armenian woman, who was 10 years older than himself.
18:55 - 18:56
GJ: Did they have children?
18:57 - 18:58
MB: Yeah. One boy.
18:59 -19:01
GJ: Did you ever–
19:01
MB: We–
19:02 - 19:03
GJ: Your first cousin, right?
19:03 - 19:16
MB: Yeah…yeah…we kept in…we kept in contact when he was…but then after he died, my uncle, we…we didn’t keep in contact anymore. They didn’t…we didn’t keep in contact.
19:17 - 19:21
GJ: Do you have any photographs of your uncle? Or…the family? 
19:22 - 19:23
MB: Yeah, I’ve got...I’ve got some. But—
19:23
GJ: Okay.
19:24 - 19:31
MB: But they’re, you know…So, that’s the story. And…so…19:31
GJ: So that…then…Then your dad’s–
19:31 - 19:33
MB: How did my mother come?
19:34 - 19:36
GJ: Yeah. Then your dad sent for—
19:37 - 19:44
MB: Oh, guess what? He got my mother a job, at another…a teacher’s…a teacher in Greece, this Greek teacher–
19:45 - 19:56
MB: He got a job for…for him, to…she worked for him, to wash…to take care of the house. You know, those years they didn’t have–
19:56 - 20:22
MB: You know, to do the housework, you know. So she said she had to wash clothes. She did it for one year. And then finally my father contacted her, sent the money, and so she came. She came to…she came to Providence, Rhode Island…1924.
20:23 - 20:24
GJ: But without her mother. Just her.
20:25 - 20:29
MB: No. My mother…her mother was still in Athens, Greece.
20:30
GJ: And stayed there.
20:31 - 20:35
MB: Living…living with my…her son. At that time he wasn’t married.
20:35 - 20:47
GJ: Okay. So…They came here…And your dad was working in the foundry?
20:48 - 20:52
MB: He had worked in the foundry, but he slipped…he had…on the floor.
20:53 - 20:59
MB: So then he…they put him in the…so he left the foundry and worked in a bolt job. In the Whitin Machine Works.
21:00
GJ: Making bolts?
21:01 - 21:26
MB: I guess so, I mean he had a…he had a…they had a…you know he had a job. When they…in the bolt job, it was in the cellar, Harry said. Harry…Harry saw it, I never went in, you know…I never went into the factory. No…no windows. Harry said, “you should’ve saw the dust in there.” They had…they didn’t have environmental laws then.
21:26 - 21:33
GJ: And, how did your dad pass away? I know a lot of people who worked there passed away of cancer from the chemicals and dust and–
21:34 - 21:42
MB: I…No, he more had a…he just had a heart attack. I mean, he was a heavy smoker. He was a chain smoker, one cigarette after another.
21:43 - 21:47
MB: He liked to smoke a lot. He was a chain smoker.
21:47 - 21:48
GJ: How old were you when he passed away?
21:50 - 21:51
MB: I was twenty…four.
21:51
GJ: Twenty…you were how old?
21:52
MB: Twenty-four.
21:53
GJ: Twenty-four?
21:54 - 21:59
MB: Because I was the last of four kids, you know. He was ten years older than my mother.
22:00
GJ: Can you tell me–what can you tell me about your dad? What are your memories of him growing up?
22:06 - 23:02
MB: You know, he…he was a hard worker. You know, at that time, I’m young. You know, when you're young, you don't realize what's going on. I never had a, you know, like a toy. All the kids had a bicycle, you know, my age in that village, because their fathers were younger, and they had – because they were better educated. They worked in the main office, some of ‘em, of that Whitin Machine Works, where my father didn’t. And so, summertime, I would sit on that back step in the village of tenement housing and say, “Ma, I want a bicycle!” I’d drive her crazy all summer long because, you know, I never did have a bicycle. But, but, you know, I didn't at that time, you know, I was a kid. I didn't realize why we don't – my father was the lowest paid, he couldn't read or write English, so he was the lowest paid in that factory.
23:04 - 23:10
GJ: What were your weekends like, with your family?
23:11 - 24:00
MB: Mostly, you know, I, I played with…like, like, at Christmas time, you know, my mother couldn’t buy much gifts. I only had one gift. But my girlfriend, who, you know, she was two years younger than me…but, you know, two years isn't much. And she would come and say “Mary,” like Christmas morning. “Come over to my house.” And “Mary, what’d you get?” Oh, I show her one gift. She would say, “Come to my house.” Of course her father worked in the main office. They could read and write English, her mother and father…her father. And so we would…she would say, she was the only child, and the whole living room would be filled with…filled with gifts. And so all day, I would play with her, you know, with all her toys, you know…you know…on Christmas Day.
24:01
GJ: What was her name?
24:02 - 24:11
MB: Her name was Judy Plante, and then she married…she married…a guy, his last name was Laden.
24:12 - 24:14
GJ: So they were French.
24:15 - 24:28
MB: She was…her mother…she was…her father was French, her mother was Polish. And then she married…I guess he was Irish. You know, the guy she married. They were both…she became a teacher and she married a teacher.
24:29 - 24:30
GJ: Yeah the name is familiar.
24:31
MB: Huh?
24:31 - 24:33
GJ: The name is familiar to me–Plante.
24:34 - 24:35
MB: Oh yeah, guess what?
24:36
GJ: What?
24:37 - 24:39
MB: There was a lot of Plantes.
24:40 - 24:46
GJ: So what was…did you guys do anything…any special customs or traditions, or holidays that your family celebrated? I’m gonna…let’s take a second. Let me take a… I want to move this light just a little bit. I’m sorry. Yeah, any–were there any special things that you did with your family? Any, like visiting relatives, or…?
24:47 - 25:06
MB: No, there was no relatives to visit. See, this is another thing. You know, we were…all the relatives…the Turks pretty well wiped out. And so, you know, we didn’t have no…relatives…so.
25:07 - 25:09
GJ: Were there any special traditions in your family?
25:10 - 25:30
MB: Oh well at Easter time, my mother would dye the eggs red, you know, with the onion peels. And…and, we had, you know…we were…there was no Armenian church then, we were brought up with the Congo (Congregational).
25:31 - 25:34
GJ: Now what was your mom like? Were you close to her, or…?25:35 - 27:11
MB: Oh, yeah. She was a…a….a nice woman. Of course, you know, she died when I was 17. So…of cancer, at age 52. So…I was just gonna start the senior year at Northbridge High School, but…So it was, you know. It was…I didn’t–we didn’t have an easy life, you know? You know, like the newer generation. We had…our life was tough. What I mean is, we didn’t have, you know, because financially, my father couldn’t make more money in that factory. And so we, I mean, it was…but I mean, I still enjoyed it, because...1950s, being brought up then, when you're young, was much better than now. I wouldn't…even though you got all this technology and all these, you know…all these products. I would…I still like in the 1950s. Why? It was…simpler times, but I don't think you lived under the pressure you live under now. I think now kids are brought up with more pressure. Financially, every which way. And, and, like, a cell phone, it…it…you know, it's too…intrusive.
27:12 - 27:21
MB: And just tells you, you know, the news, but just gives you the local news, really.
27:24 - 27:27
GJ: I remember those days also. It was funny.
27:28
MB: Yeah.
27:29
GJ: Playing in the woods.
27:30 - 27:31
MB: Yes. That’s right. That’s right.
27:32 - 27:35
GJ: Actually, down the end of your street, there was the Arcade Pond, right?
27:35
MB: Yes.
27:36 - 27:37
GJ: Did you go swimming there?
27:37 - 27:56
MB: No, you went swimming in the Kwanis beach, that the…that the…now the Whitinsville Water Company shut it down because of the…all of the bottles and cans. Those years…the Whitin Machine Works took care of it, and it was…We went swimming there, and we also went swimming in New Pond.
27:57 - 28:07
MB: They closed that down now. The Whitin…you know…because of the bottles and cans. And…so it was nice.
28:08 - 28:11
GJ: Did your mom and dad have a garden at the end of the street?
28:12 - 28:28
MB: Oh, yeah. The, the fact…the garden was at the…with the Whitin Machine Works. Provided you, you pay, I guess a few bucks, and you had a garden. Where all now, there’s all houses, where Knights of Columbus Hall is–
28:28 - 28:37
MB: And all the houses have been built. That’s where my–not far from the Knights of Columbus Hall–that’s where my father had a garden.
28:38 - 28:42
GJ: Was there any, like, special dishes that your mother made that you miss?
28:43 - 29:00
MB: She could make a nice pilaf, the rice pilaf. Or, you know, she…she really did a nice job on that, and the choreg, she could really make a nice choreg, that…oh my gosh, it was...you know, really…nice and high.
29:01 - 29:28
MB: Oh, you know, when you ate that, you just had to eat one or two and you were…you know. And she cut it in diamond shapes, it was…yeah. I can’t find that, you know, anywhere else right now. Her…her…those were her specialties. And of course, she didn’t know as much as the Armenian cooking, because she was brought up on the Greek side.
29:29 - 29:52
MB: So…and she…and of course, you know, sixteen years old. She didn’t learn all…all the…everything, you know, when the Turks came. She was only sixteen. But…she…and the Greek side, like I was saying, they have more…their cooking is a little bit more different.
29:53 - 29:55
GJ:  So you…there were four children in your family?
29:55
MB: Yep, yes.
29:56
GJ: What were their names?
29:57
MB: Huh?
29:59
GJ: What were their names?
30:00 - 30:14
MB: John…he was the oldest. He was born March 4th, 1925. So…he would have been…
30:14
GJ: 96.
30:15
MB: 98.
30:18
GJ: Okay.
30:19 - 30:47
MB: 98 this year. And Harry was born four years…May 21st, 1929. He was four years younger. And then Michael was born February 8th, 1935. So…he would have been 88 years old. And then there was me. And I was born…August 18th 1941.
30:49 - 30:58
GJ: So…I guess you had told me the story earlier of your dad buying that lot for wood.
30:58 - 31:47
MB: Right. In 1948, he went to Frank Morrison, the lawyer who was…on the Whitinsville Savings Bank–the former Whitinsville Savings Bank upstairs office. Where your father now had got…after Frank Morrison passed on. And he told him, “Frank, I need a woodlot…to cut wood.” To keep…you know, you need…to…to heat the tenement housing up. In the village, we had a wood stove. And so Frank said, “Okay, Archie, I’ll look for…I’ll…Archie, I’ll look for…look for it for you.” So he came back and he told him, “This–you go visit this man.” He gave him the address. Mr. Granger, his last name.
31:48 - 32:22
MB: In Worcester. So my father took a bus every…there was a bus going every–once every hour from Whitinsville to Worcester. In front of Buffum’s drug store. You take a bus, and he went, and he visited him. The man was 80 years old, and so he was willing to sell, because of his age, you know. And, so…my father came, he got the plans, you know, the plan of the…the land.
32:24 - 32:46
MB: And so, Harry…Harry…Harry…my brother John had just joined the…well, he had…he had already been in there for four years…five years. He had…he had just…he was in the Navy, he stayed in the Navy, He didn’t get out…after the Second War. He reenlisted.
32:47 - 32:59
MB: In fact…So he…Anyway, when he had…he had joined the Navy, he left Harry the $5 bicycle that he had bought from another Armenian fellow, Leo Tosoonian, who lived in the village.
33:00 - 34:31
MB: So Harry took that bicycle, and he took the plans. And…and he came to Douglas Road, you know, he read, you know, Harry was…had the civil engineering brain, so…He…so he said, “This is the land my father bought.” So when my father came home from the Whitin Machine Works at four o'clock, Harry said, “Pa, you bought land on Douglas Road.” And my father says, “Oh, no. I bought land–” He thought he…he bought land further up from Walmart (Where it is now). And…in Northbridge here. Whitinsville. And, so…my father, you know, couldn't read or write English, so they had to hire an engineer. The engineer’s car…they…they…you know, the engineer, they get in the car. From, you know, the new village tenement housing where we were. And he came…and he stopped the car. You  know, in front of my house, you know, on Lackey Dam Road, now, they call it. They don't call it Douglas Road anymore. They just call the part in Northbridge Douglas Road. In Whitinsville, the…it’s now called Lackey Dam Road, because Lackey was a big landowner. I read about it in the News-Tribune. In the olden days, the 1700s, the Lackey family. There’s a Lackey Road in Sutton, too.
34:32 - 34:53
MB: Near the Blackstone Valley National Golf Course. People get it mixed up with Lackey…Lackey Dam Road. There’s too…there’s a difference. Well, anyway, the engineer stopped in front of…and he said, “This is the land you bought” to my father. And then he knew his son, you know, was right. That Harry was right, you know.
34:54 - 34:57
GJ: So how did they get the wood from there to…
34:58
MB: Oh…
34:58
GJ: The Village?
35:00 - 35:08
MB: To the Village. They would hire Mr. Barnett. Mr. Barnett, he lived on…but he owned 200 acres on Barnett Road…
35:09 - 35:25
MB: In Sutton. And he had a flatbed truck. And he was a big tall guy, Mr. Barnett, Howard Barnett. He was a big tall guy. And he would…and Harry was young, and Harry was 5’11.’’
35:26 - 35:55
MB: And they would…and Harry said, boy, he would…they would hire him. And, they would…that's how they would bring it back to the village. And then we’d have a saw man. A saw man would come, and my father had to pay him, and they would…I don’t know if you remember that, the olden days, they had a–it was a big round circular saw. And he would cut that into small pieces, you know.
35:55 - 35:57
GJ: Did your dad sell the wood?
35:58 - 36:03
MB: No. Mostly it was for us, for burning.
36:04 - 36:07
GJ: Wow. What other memories do you have as a kid? Of…?
36:08 - 36:12
MB: Other memories? Well…
36:13 - 36:14
GJ: What was school like?
36:16
MB: Oh, school was nice!
36:17 - 36:52
MB: School was nice. Although the West End school, when I went to…Oh, okay. There was…the basement was all flooded. You know, I was in, you know, the first grade. You know, they couldn't do that now, you know. I had to step on planks to go to the bathroom. It was all flooded. But, but it was nice. The school, you know. I was being educated…in the Whitin Machine Works. You know, those years, the school teachers…not many got married.
36:53 - 37:01
MB: So we had some nice, good school teachers. And…it was a good experience.
37:03 - 37:07
GJ: So there were four of you. John went off to the Navy.
37:08 - 37:10
MB: Navy. He stayed there for 20 years.
37:11 - 37:12
GJ: Did anybody go to college in the family?
37:58
MB: No, no. And the one…nobody went to college. See Harry, he…he was college material, but he never went. He had…he had…he read books, magazines, newspapers, you name it. He read it. And he went to a library since he was 10 years old, Harry. Harry had…had better reading comprehension than I did. And Harry could…Harry had the civil engineering brain, but he had…never went to college. And…he had more…he read more than people who did have four years of college…was an avid reader. He read everything.
37:59 - 38:00
GJ: Was there a favorite type of thing that he read?
38:01 - 38:07
MB: No, it was…it…books, magazines, newspapers. You name it. He read it.
38:09 - 38:14
GJ: And…so…it was his idea to purchase the land–was it adjacent to your dad’s land?
38:14 - 38:24
MB: Yeah, see my dad’s land had mostly…actually, where my house is, was…the rest was wetlands.
38:24 - 38:29
MB: Wetlands, and high tension towers.
38:31 - 38:41
MB: And…and…actually, you know, it…it…actually, the…the…the best part of my land is where my house was.
38:44
GJ: And…
38:45 - 39:07
MB: So had Harry not bought all…around, and all…and across the Highway, 146 in Sutton and in Douglas, a little…He would never, you know…I wouldn’t be here, because I couldn’t afford to be in this condo.
38:09 - 39:10
GJ: So, that–was 146 there, then? It was, right?
39:11 - 39:13
MB: Yes, 146 was built in 1950.
39:14 - 39:16
GJ: So he–why did he buy land around there?
39:17 - 39:21
MB: He was…he was interested in…in…in sand and gravel.
39:22 - 39:26
GJ: Why don’t we back up for a second. What was Harry doing for a living?
39:26 - 39:31
MB: He was working…before he went into the sand and gravel business?
39:31
GJ: Yeah.
39:32 - 39:38
MB: He worked at the warehouse, Ford Motor Company warehouse, on Speen Street, in Natick, right after the Framingham line.
39:38
GJ: Right.
39:39 - 39:59
MB: There was Wonder Bread Company behind there. They…they…and he worked there for nine years. And…I didn't want him to quit because, you know, that was the only financial….And…he finally made up his mind.
40:00 - 40:04
GJ: So you and your brother–your two brothers, are all living together on Lackey Dam Road.
40:04
MB: Right.
40:05 - 40:09
GJ: Okay. And he was the sole…support.
40:09
MB: Provider. Because Michael–
40:10 - 40:11
GJ: You weren’t working then, yourself?
40:12 - 40:13
MB: No, I was taking care of Michael.
40:15 - 40:20
GJ: Okay. Well we can get back into that for a second. But regarding Harry, so he was working on Speen Street, at Ford Motor–
40:21 - 40:23
MB: Ford Motor Company Warehouse.
40:23 - 40:30
GJ: And he had this idea that there was…there was land which had valuable gravel and sand–
40:31 - 40:34
MB: Sand and gravel on there, right. Because he had the civil engineering brain.
40:35 - 40:37
GJ: And he…how did he end up buying it?
40:38
MB: Oh…
40:40
GJ: I mean, he wasn’t making much money working for Ford–40:41 - 40:45
MB: No, no. That's…that's the story I’m gonna tell you about
40:46 - 41:02
MB: So he went to the Whitinsville Savings Bank, now called UniBank. And they said…He says, “give me a mortgage to buy…buy the…buy land.” “Oh, no. We don’t give mortgages for buying land.”
41:03 - 43:48
MB: And they had given us a mortgage to build that house, but they wouldn't give us a mortgage for buying land. So…he went to the biggest bank in Worcester. Mechanics Bank, at the time, that was the biggest one in Worcester. And he said, “Give me a mortgage to buy land.” “Oh, no. We don't give mortgages for land.” They only gave mortgages for houses. So he got–he used to read–like I told you, avid reader. get the Morning Telegram, Evening Gazette. Read that. And in it, it said “Brookfield Farmers: Come up to Ware Bank. We will give you money to buy land.” So Harry drove all the way to Ware–Ware, Massachusetts. You know where that is? And he went, and he says “I want to buy land.” So the two bank executives came from Ware, Massachusetts. He got in the car, he showed them all the houses that the Whitin Machine Works had built near the Knights of Columbus Hall in Whitinsville. All those houses…Ivy Lane and those different…houses on those different streets. And so Harry came back, got out of the car of the two bank executives. And he says to me, “I think they will give me the mortgage, because if I can't pay for the land, they can sell it for houses.” So sure enough, one week later, the letter came in the mail. “Your loan has been approved.” Now Ware Bank is called Country Bank for Savings. They had a branch in Brookfield, and the big branch was in…is in Ware. And they got other branches, other places. I…you know, that’s…that’s what…and those were the ones. And one day, it was a Friday, and he took every coin out of the house. There was not a coin–”I gotta pay this mortgage, because if I don’t pay, if I default on this mortgage, they’ll never loan me money again. I…I don’t want my credit report…” So he took every coin…there was no…there was no food in that refrigerator. Or in the cabinets of that house. On Lackey Dam Road. No…no food. This is Friday. The stores closed Saturday night at six o'clock. Wasn't like now…they're not open on Sundays.
43:49 - 45:02
MB: You know, they're not…they weren't open on Saturday night. They closed at six o'clock…and I'm standing there, in front of the sink, thinking, “I got…there’s no food to cook.” He took every coin out of the house, there’s no money. So then, I thought, what am I gonna do? Where am I gonna get money to buy food? So my brother John, when I…he had joined the Navy in March 4th, 1943, when the Second World War was going on, because he was going to get drafted. Well he had put a war bond in my name, a $25 war bond. In my name. I was two years old. It had matured to $75. So I took that, I got the…I went to the Whitinsville…at that time, the Whitinsville Savings Bank. And I got it…the $75. I was able to buy food, I was able to buy…pay the electric bill, you know, the electric bill wasn’t like it is now.
45:03 - 45:26
MB: You know, and so I, you know, I survived. And…it was tough. But, oh yeah, we ate popcorn and biscuits to help pay those…that… that…the mortgage off. We had hard times. It was…and Harry did  sell firewood. I remember that. He sold firewood…in the 1980s.
45:27 - 47:35
MB: The…there was a…the electric bill had gone up. There was…people...what do you call it…it was a…there was something in the–
45:36
GJ: There was an energy crisis–
45:37
MB: Yeah!
45:37 - 45:39
GJ: Where the oil had gone way up.
45:40 - 45:55
MB: Right, right. In the 1980s. And people had electric homes then. You know, who were living…and they were…and, oh my goodness. A guy who had an electric home, over in…where the gardens… where, where–
45:55 - 46:10
MB: The Knights of Columbus Hall. And…he came knocking on the door, he says “I need wood.” And he bought, I think, a couple of cords of wood. Harry sold wood, at that time, for $50 a cord, but he made some money to help pay the bills.
46:12 - 46:15
GJ: And your older brother John was nowhere around, right?46:16
MB: No, no, he had got married–
46:17 - 46:20
MB: When Harry was in Korea.
46:21 - 46:42
MB: He had gotten married…1952, December. Before Christmas. He married a Philadelphia woman. He was…he was in the Navy with her brothers. But they got out when the Second World War was over. They had…they were well off. They had tool-and-die-making businesses–
46:42
MB: In New Jersey.
46:44 - 47:25
MB: And her…and her father worked for some oil company, you know, ‘cause Philadelphia is right over the line from New Jersey. I–and I don't know, I tried to ask my niece what company, but she never...she didn't know. Anyway, they owned a…a…a…four-tenement housing, her father, in Philadelphia. Ten minutes away from Independence Hall. They were collecting rents from three other people, and he was helping them out. He never gave us…of course, you know, you know, you know I'm not saying, he was…a gambler.
47:26
GJ: Like his…
47:27
MB: Grandfather.
47:27 - 47:30
GJ: LIke his grandfather. Interesting.
47:31 - 48:06
MB: And guess what? So when he had joined the Navy…Okay, Harry…Harry was…got a job, at two o'clock, when he leaves Northbridge High School. Harry got a job at that Whitinsville–where Henry Lane got his law office, that was the Whitinsville…shop cafeteria. And in it, women worked there, but they didn't want to wash those big, big…pots and pans. Restaurant pots and pans. So who did they hire? They hired the Northbridge High School boys–
48:07 - 48:23
MB: To come out, and they’re tall, like Harry was tall, to come out at two o’clock. You know, where Henry Lane got the law office, now that was the Whitinsville cafeteria. They hired…they hired Northbridge High School boys–
48:24 - 48:40
MB: To come out at two o’clock. The women, who worked in the cafeteria, because they didn't want to wash those big restaurant pots and pans. So Harry…it was 45 cents an hour. That was the big money then. You know, you're talking about 1940s.
48:41 - 49:27
MB: You know, you could buy a loaf of bread for 20 cents. Anyway, Harry would save it with…my brother John would come home from the Navy. And you know what he would do? “Harry, loan me some money. I'll pay you back.” Harry loaned him it. Where would he go? With Cheeky Almasian. They had–they were the same age. They had gone to school together. To…to Lincoln Downs Racetrack, now called Twin River Casino. Gambled…on the race at…at the Lincoln Dallas Racetrack. Never paid Harry back.
49:27 - 49:40
MB: And he never helped us out. He helped all–he helped all the Italian side of the family. And they–they didn’t even need the money. That's the crying shame.

Mary Bedoian Interview, Part 2

49:43 - 49:46
GJ: Let’s talk about your other brother. Michael, was that his name?
49:46
MB: Yep.
49:48 - 49:50
GJ: Okay. What can you tell me about Michael?
49:51 - 49:57
MB: Michael? He…he had…he quit school, like my brother John had quit school.
49:58 - 50:10
MB: And then he got a job. He was…when he quit, he got a job. Working pedaling…telegrams for the Whitin Machine Works.
50:11
GJ: Okay.
50:12 - 50:32
MB: Then there was…you know, there wasn't the Internet. And then, he joined the Air Force. He joined the Air Force. I…and he's…I guess he starting to have the problems. So he only did one year…
50:33 - 50:45
MB: In the Air Force. And…he started having…at age 24, he really started…He was six months, he would be normal, and then six months, he'd be out of it.
50:46
GJ: Hallucinating?
50:48
MB: Yeah, right.
50:50 - 50:52
GJ: Do he ever get diagnosed?
50:52 - 50:59
MB: Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. He was in…he was in…he was…schizophrenia…
51:01 - 51:30
MB: And…Oh yeah, he was in and out of…he was in and out of veterans’ hospitals. Every one of them–Bedford VA, Brockton VA. At the time, those were…just psychiatric hospitals. They weren't, you know, they weren’t the medical centers they are now. And the Providence…Providence, they had a small psychiatric ward. So he's been in and…he was in and out of those for years. And I took care of him most of the time.
51:31 - 51:41
GJ: Did you notice anything as…you know, when did you first start noticing that there were issues…with Michael? Michael, right?
51:42 - 51:46
MB: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We started noticing it in…in…
51:47 - 51:49
GJ: Did you notice it when he was a teenager, or…?
51:49 - 51:50
MB: No, no. You know…
51:51 - 51:52
GJ: It really started afterwards.
51:53
MB: Yeah, right!
51:54
GJ: Wow.
51:55
MB: Right!
51:55
GJ: That’s so sad.
51:56 - 52:12
MB: Yeah. Right! Oh, yeah! And every case is different, you know. It’s really, it was not an easy life. No, it was tough. When someone’s like that, you know.
52:13 - 52:17
GJ: And then, your other brother–so he was in the Air Force for what war? It was the Korean War?
52:18 - 52:30
MB: He was…he was in during the Korean, but he wasn’t…he…he was…he was stationed in…at…at…in Chicago. Chanute Air Force Base. It’s outside…it’s in Champaign-Urbana, outside of Chicago.
52:31 - 52:34
GJ: Right. And your other brother was in…Harry was in the Air Force–not the Air Force, but he was in the Army in Korea.
52:34 - 52:38
MB: He got drafted, Korean. He was in Korea.
52:38 - 52:40
GJ: So you were alone at that time?
52:41
MB: Yeah. Right.
52:42 - 52:44
GJ: What were you doing when you were alone?
52:44 - 52:46
MB: Well, I was…I was young. I was…see, when–
52:47 
GJ: How old were you?
52:48 - 52:52
MB: When Harry got drafted…Harry got drafted, right?
52:53 - 53:11
MB: It was…I was only…I was only…what you call it…1952…I was eleven. Or ten–ten–ten. 1951, I think, he went…he got drafted. And I was 10 years old–
53:12 - 53:19
MB: When he got drafted. He's…he was…Harry was 12 years older than me. I was 10 years old when Harry got drafted.
53:19 - 53:33
GJ: So the thing about the photographs that you gave me to copy and scan…I found it fascinating that Harry had befriended this Korean kid.
53:33
MB: Yeah.
53:34 - 53:35
GJ: Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
53:36 - 53:41
MB: Oh, yeah, this was what happened. Okay, Harry, got drafted into the Korean War.
53:43 - 54:29
MB: And…the…when he got over to…oh, yeah. When he got over to Korea…when he got over to Korea, the…the American bombs, the American…Air Force, I guess, had bombed Korea, you know, and they had killed…they had killed civilians. And this Korean boy was only 14 years old at the– Joon Hwa Ahn, I guess that's what his name was. He was only 14 years old at the time. The American…I guess, Air Force, had…had…had…they dropped the bombs. They had killed his mother and father.
54:30 - 57:15
MB: And he had a sister who was already married. And he was…and he had a brother. A little bit…a few years older than him. And…he was only 14 years old. And Harry…Harry said…so Harry felt sorry for him. You know, he was…he was…he was 14 years old. And…and…so Harry told the guys in the tent, they were living in a tent, to…”Let's hire this…this Korean boy, 14 years old, to…he will shine your shoes. He will sweep out the tent.” You know–he was going to be a houseboy. And each guy will give him 25 cents. Those years, 25 cents was big money. So they said, “okay.” And they hired him. And he was only 14 and he did…he took care of the tent. He cleaned it out. He shined his shoes. And so…he had enough money to go to school. And he was very smart. 14 years old. He was learning how to read and write English, he was…he was very smart in school. It was wintertime, very cold in Korea, mountainous…area. And he…they had…it was a bombed out building. The American bombs…bombed out building. And he…and he had to go to school. He had to wear a winter jacket to go to school, but he was…he…he learned…learned…learned how to read and write English. He was very smart. And so…Harry would say, “I would…I would”...there were big pork chops. He said, you know, the Army got the…you know, the American government made sure they got the best food. He said, “Big pork chops”. He said, “At dinnertime, I would wrap it up in a napkin, and save it for him. So when he, you know, at night, when he got out of…, you know, you know, I would give it to him when he got out of school. So he could have something to eat, you know?” And so that's what Harry would do. And he was very smart. And…and so Harry helped them out. And the Methodist Church sent him to seminary, became a Methodist minister. And then…this Korean boy, he…he had…the Methodist Church was going to send him to get a Master’s at Duke’s University…degree.
57:16 - 57:29
MB: And so he came…he came to New York City. Oh he wrote Harry a letter: “I’m coming to New York City. I want to meet you.” And that's when he gave him that Korean vase that's on my mantle. You want me to–
57:31
GJ: No, that’s alright.
57:32
MB: See that black vase?
57:33
GJ: I can see it, yeah.
57:34 - 57:12
MB: He says to Harry, I want to give you a gift. And he says…and he went out to Ohio, and…and he…he…he…he…he…he spoke to the Methodist church out there. And….and he told them that ,”I lost my mother and father during the Korean War.” And he says, “Harry was like a father to me. He helped me out.” And…and…and, he was, you know, he never forgot that. And, so that's…that's the kind of guy…the kind of guy Harry was. He had a very big heart.
58:13 - 58:17
GJ: You think Harry saw in this little boy, himself? As a little boy himself?
58:18 - 58:25
MB: Well, though, Harry had this…Harry, Harry, you know, he knows what my mother and father had gone through from the Turks.
58:26 - 58:55
MB: So he had more compassion. In fact, some of the guys in the Army, you know what they said to him? One of the guys…”What are you helping out these gooks for?” You know, the–you know, they got the slanted eyes. He called them gooks, you know, you know, because they don't look as American as…as we do, you know? And another guy says to Harry, “What are you, a social worker? That, you know, you know, you're doing this kind of work?” And Harry never went to–it wasn't a social work. He just had this big heart to help people out.
58:56 - 59:20
GJ: Do you think that…that brings an interesting question. You said it’s because of his own experience. What do you think? Because you’re of Armenian descent, how has that shaped your personality? Kind of, how you think? Or what you do?
59:21 - 59:26
MB: Well, I think because the Armenians have gone through so much from the Turks…
59:27 - 1:00:04
MB: That you feel more sorry for people who are refugees–you know, who are having…who are having problems more than, say, someone who had an easier life. You know what I'm saying? Although, it really matters what your heart is. Like Jesus said, where your heart is, is what matters. Harry was this type of guy. There was this guy in basic training. He only went as far as the fourth grade. He was retarded.
1:00:05 - 1:00:27
MB: And Harry…and Harry helped him out. Harry…Harry…Harry...to go, you know, you're in basic training and you've got to have everything correct when the…when the top officer, the big brass, top officer comes by. He didn't know how you have to have the sheets, hospital corners on the sheets, on your bed.
1:00:28 - 1:04:01
MB: You gotta clean the rifle, Harry said, and put it…you gotta have it all cleaned out and put it to one side. You have to have–do all these things. Well, this guy. His last name was Bigelow, like the Bigelow carpets, but except he was…he was from the Midwest. He was from the Midwest. He only had a fourth grade education and Harry helped him do all this, you know, set up the…because he didn't…he didn't have the mental ability to do…make the hospital corners, clean the rifle, set it up for inspection. So Harry helped him. Well on the first day going to Korea, you get your orders. Because Harry had scored a perfect 10 on the Army tests, they said to Harry, “You want to go to Officers Candidate School, OCS? We'll send you. You’ll become an infantry officer.” Harry said no, because he said, “I didn't want to make the army my career. And also I didn't like the idea that I gotta kill people.” Because you're an infantry officer. You've got to go…you gotta go first into the battle zone. So Harry said, “I said no.” So they sent Harry to Fort Lee, Virginia, before he was shipped up to Korea, to do office work. He had to learn typing, he had to do the paperwork. So he did it all. So okay. Now all these guys…the troop ship..he had to–he had to leave on a troop ship. I don't know, it was San Francisco or Oakland, California. One of those places, to ship them out. The first day he went to Korea, he said the…the…the…the troop ship lands in Inchon, that's that seaport over Korea. He says, the top officer gets off that plank of that boat and he stands there and he hands you your orders. So Harry says, “I got Quartermaster Corps. I had to take care of all the supplies, do all the paperwork, for all the supplies that come in to the…to the army over in Korea.” Well, this guy Bigelow, they gave him…they put them in the infantry, because, you know, he didn't have…he only had a fourth grade education. So the first day he went to Korea, he went back in a coffin. He died. And when Harry was dying of cancer, that's what bothered him. He said, “I never went out to the Midwest and talked to his mother.” He said, “I wish I had.” He said he felt very bad, when he was dying of cancer. He said, “If I had not helped that guy out.” He would never have–they would have kicked him out of the Army, because he only had a fourth grade education. Harry said he was retarded. And so Harry said, “I wish I never helped him,” because he wouldn't–they would have kicked him out of the Army. He wouldn’t have went back the first day in a coffin. But I said to Harry, “You tried to help that guy out. You didn't want him to go back in a coffin. You know, he–you shouldn’t let that bother you.” You know, but that's the kind of guy that Harry was. He had a big heart. That's the kind of man he was.
1:04:02 - 1:04:12
GJ: Wow. I want to go back. That was a great story. I want to go back to just growing up in Whitinsville. What was…what was the Armenian community like in Whitinsville?
1:04:12 - 1:04:20
MB: Well see, I…see, I…guess what? I never lived with the Armenians. See, I didn’t live on
1:04:20
GJ: But you lived in the village.
1:04:21 - 1:04:39
MB: I didn’t live on…I never lived in D Street. My mother would go to D Street. I lived on North Main Street most of my life. And North Main Street…my…my….my two…I lived….my tenement house, and my Polish neighbors were on both sides of my tenement.
1:04:41 - 1:04:47
MB: I was brought up with Polish and French. You know, I wasn’t brought up with the Armenians.
1:04:48 - 1:04:50
GJ: Physically, how far was your house from D street?
1:04:51 - 1:05:01
MB: Oh, a few…few…few streets up. You had to…you know…you know? So I wasn't brought up–-and there was no Armenian church at that time.
1:05:02 - 1:05:04
MB: So I went to the Congo (Congregational Church). I was brought up Protestant more.
1:05:05 - 1:05:15
MB: And so I, you know, I–I can't relate so much to that, because I wasn't brought up.
1:05:16 - 1:05:33
MB: And guess what, Northbridge High School, when I went to school–when Harry went to school there was a lot of Armenians. But when I went, I was only…there was only, only three other Armenians. There was Varkas Arakalian, Kenneth Arakelian’s, his son. 
1:05:36 - 1:06:02
MB: I…I went…I graduated with. I graduated with Shirley Bagdasarian, Peter Bagdasarian’s youngest sister. And I graduated with Richard Garabedian. They own the shoe store on Church Street. And then there was me. That’s all…that’s the…there wasn’t…see, see, I was never really brought up with Armenians.
1:06:03 - 1:06:04
GJ: And did all those three people live in the village?
1:06:05 - 1:06:38
MB: No, no. Kenneth Arakelian, he lived….you know, his father owned the Varky’s Cleaners. He lived down there. And Richard Garabedian lived on Spring Street, his father owned the shoe store. and Shirley Bagdasarian lived on Quaker Street. So, I really wasn't…that's what, you know…And Harry, that’s what Harry would say. Oh, he said, “Mary.” The Armenians had their children…see, my father didn't want no more children. He had three boys. My father didn't want no more kids.
1:06:39 - 1:07:05
MB: I mean, he was the lowest paid in that factory. And guess what? My mother said that if my...my…”When I get old and sick, my son's wives aren't gonna take care of me like my own daughter.” So she insisted that I…she was gonna have another child. Whereas my…At that time, my brother John was 16 years old.
1:07:06 - 1:07:15
MB: He saw my mother pregnant, and you know what he said to her? “What are you having another one for? You can't feed and clothe us three boys.”
1:07:20 - 1:07:31
MB: And who was the happiest when I was born? Harry Bedoian. My mother said, he was 12 years old, and he went, and…he went to all the neighbors that…you know, that…
1:07:32 - 1:07:45
MB: The neighbors around me and said, “My mother had a baby girl.” And they were all happy because you know, you know, she finally got what she wanted, you know?
1:07:46 - 1:07:51
GJ: Well it was good, in a way. She was prophetic. Even though she died young. You took care of Michael.
1:07:51 - 1:08:00
MB: Oh, yeah. Right. Right. And also, guess what? You see, my brother John's daughter?
1:08:01 - 1:08:19
MB: Because Harry never had a will, and Michael never had a will. This is where…his daughter…If I wasn’t around, you wouldn’t be talking to me today. Because you know what she would have done?
1:08:20 - 1:08:24
GJ: Do you want this on the recording? Do you want this in the story?
1:08:25 - 1:08:27
MB: I don’t care.
1:08:27 - 1:08:30
GJ: Okay. Then say what you’d like.
1:08:31 - 1:08:35
MB: Because the day we buried Harry, she came back—we came back from the cemetery.
1:08:36 - 1:08:47
MB: You know what she told me? “Why don’t you sell everything and go live comfortably?” But I knew…I knew what Harry wanted. I had lived with him.
1:08:48 - 1:09:10
MB: I knew everything about the land. I knew what I had to do. And that's why–I've ran it now for 30 years. And it was for her. She would have–say I wasn't around? It would have been–everything would have been sold, she would’ve went right back to Pennsylvania. And you wouldn't be talking to me today.
1:09:11 - 1:09:22
GJ: So, I find it tremendous that you ran this business. So you didn't really–you lived with Harry, and you lived with Michael, you took care of MIchael. Harry died in what year? Nineteen ninety…
1:09:23 - 1:09:25
MB: Three. January 26th, 1993.
1:09:25 - 1:09:31
GJ: 1993. And you stepped in and ran the business. And managed the business.
1:09:31
MB: Right.
1:09:325 - 1:09:35
GJ: Today, still, right? Is there a business today?1:09:35
MB: Right.
1:09:36 - 1:09:41
GJ: So 30 years you've been doing this? With no experience before that? I mean, that's pretty incredible.
1:09:42
MB: Oh, yeah.
1:09:43 - 1:09:45
GJ: That’s pretty amazing. I'm gonna ask you a personal question–
1:09:46 - 1:09:59
MB: See, I was…see, I was, I had taken the college course. So I was...I was…I guess I was…I knew how to do things. You know, when you take that kind of a course…
1:09:59
GJ:  What kind of course was it?
1:10:01
MB: What I had, in high school?
1:10:03 - 1:10:05
GJ: Oh it’s in high school. Like the college track, is what you mean.
1:10:05 - 1:10:08
MB: Yeah, I had two years of Latin, I had two years of French.
1:10:09 - 1:10:12
MB:  I had two years of algebra. I had a year of geometry.
1:10:15 - 1:10:18
MB: So, you know, I was able to do that. Right.
1:10:19 - 1:10:32
GJ: Well, you–you must be pretty smart in your own right, to be able to step in and do that. You might not have been a civil engineer, but you had what–what the Armenians call…jarbig.
1:10:33
MB: Right.
1:10:33 - 1:10:36
GJ: You must have been–you must have had common sense. Street sense.
1:10:37 - 1:10:42
MB: Oh, right, right. I…I…I was able to do it. Right.
1:10:43 - 1:10:56
GJ: Was there–I’m going to ask you a personal question, but was there anything in life you wish you had done, if things were different? Like in a perfect world? What would...what were your dreams and aspirations as a kid? Or as a 20-year-old?
1:10:58 - 1:11:09
MB: Yeah, probably…You know something? I–you know something? I used to, you know, I will…the Bible verse: “I will restore to you the year that the locusts have eaten.”
1:11:10 - 1:11:27
MB: And I used to read that, and I used to say, “oh God, I’ve had so much problems. What do you mean by this…verse?” “I will restore what the locusts have eaten.” You know, my life didn’t go from high school to college to a nice career, you know. You know.
1:11:27
GJ: Or a family.
1:11:28 - 1:11:57
MB: Yeah. Or get married and have some kids. Right. And so I said, “God, what do you mean by this?” I…I…I…I always would say, “I don't see how you can restore to me the year that the locusts have eaten.” But guess what? You see, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. In this condo. If…if I didn't carry…if I didn't carry on where Harry wanted.
1:11:58 - 1:12:00
MB: If I didn't take care of everything.
1:12:01 - 1:12:09
GJ: But if you…Let's say that…that Harry–Did you ever want to go to college?
1:12:09 - 1:12:11MB: Oh, yeah. I wouldn't have tooken the college course.
1:12:11 - 1:12:32
GJ: Right. And did you have dreams and aspirations for yourself that had nothing to do with the family? I mean, I don't want to…say that you were being selfish by thinking these things, but I mean, did you have things that you wanted to do? Were you ever in love with somebody that you just couldn't do because you were taking care of Michael, and you couldn't go out with somebody?
1:12:33 - 1:12:52
MB: Yeah, I didn't…I didn't have that kind of a, you know…I…I…I…like I said, I didn't have, you know, like other people, you know, you know, they could, you know, their mother and father is living, so they could go to college. They could go–or get married, or, you know, and have a nice job, and like that. No, my life didn’t go that way.
1:12:52 - 1:13:02
MB: And so…like the Bible verse, but it’s true. He has given me the year that the locusts have eaten. So, I wouldn't be in this condo right now.
1:13:02 - 1:13:18
GJ: That’s a beautiful verse. I just want to, like, review my own notes here to see if there are any other questions that I have for you. But this has been fantastic. I think we’ve been very thorough.
1:13:21
MB: I hope so.
1:13:22 - 1:13:51
GJ: Oh, you’ve been extremely patient. I think that's pretty much it, I can’t think of anything else to ask. Is there anything that you would like to add? Or is there any lessons that…I'm gonna ask you kind of an odd question. It’s…how do you think…You know, you grew up the daughter of refugees.
1:13:51
MB: Right.
1:13:52 - 1:13:56
GJ: My…I’m a second generation.
1:13:56
MB: Right. Right.
1:13:58 - 1:14:00
GJ: But now there's two or three more generations, right?
1:14:01
MB: Right.
1:14:06 - 1:14:15
GJ: What do you think it’s–How do you think Armenian identity has changed? And how do you think it's stayed the same? When you look at–you know, you just observe different generations?1:14:15 - 1:14:25
MB: Well, you know, the new generation hasn't suffered like…You know, you were brought up like my niece. I'm only 13 years older than her.
1:14:27 - 1:14:34
MB: You know, my niece in Pennsylvania? And…you…you…you…you…you’re, what, 63?
1:14:34 - 1:14:36
GJ: 69.
1:14:36
MB: 69? Okay, she's 68.
1:14:40
GJ: Yeah.
1:14:40 - 1:14:42
MB: So you're only one a year difference, that’s nothing.
1:14:42 - 1:14:52
MB: Okay. You people were brought up in the 50s, when everything…in fact, America was the best in the 50s.
1:14:54 - 1:16:15
MB: You know, you know, especially if you had a nice job. You know, like your father, you know. And you people never went through what…what the…the previous generations had gone through. In fact, my brother…my brothers used to always say, “Mary, you’re not the Depression-born baby.” See, Harry…Harry was…Harry was born…Harry was born May 21st,1929. The stock market went down October of ‘29. Harry…Harry…Harry had it hard, you know, he was…he was a real Depression baby. And Michael was still…that Depression went on, you know, and so they would tell me, “You're not a Depression baby.” So now I'm telling you! You’re not…you know, you and my niece, and my, you know, all these…You’re not…You people had it when America was really booming, you know, when you were born. It was…you know. And so, I guess you can’t…you can't…I can't relate to your…you know, where you never had the problems that I had. So it's kind of hard to relate.
1:16:16 - 1:16:37
GJ: But when you look at kids at the church, or you look at different generations in town, what do you think they still carry with them? Even though, you know, they're generations removed from their grandparents, or great-grandparents, or great-great-grandparents.
1:16:39 - 1:17:36
MB: Yeah, it's…it's…like now, my…my brother's grandchildren, you know, the Pennsylvania…He's…I …I…you know, I…he says to me, “Mary, how much Armenian am I?” Well, I tell him that you're only one-fifth. Because you're one-fifth…you're one-fifth Italian, you're one-fifth Irish, you're one-fifth French, you're one-fifth Russian, and you're one-fifth Armenian. So, you know, it's kind of hard for me to relate to them. You know, and they've been brought up with an Italian mother. So she gives them all the Italian cooking and, you know, the Italian part of the family. So they're kind of removed from, you know, they're not brought up in anything Armenian.
1:17:39 - 1:17:43
GJ: But how about kids here in town, who are brought up Armenian? Who you see in church, I mean–
1:17:44 - 1:17:47
MB: Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. They’re in the Sunday school, you know, little kids–
1:17:48 - 1:17:53
MB: Oh yeah, they’re probably…you know something, those are the ones who are going to carry this on. You know–
1:17:53
GJ: What will they carry on?
1:17:55 - 1:18:02
MB: The Armenian tradition. They will carry on the tradition. They will carry on what the Turks did to the Armenians. You know, they're gonna carry it on.
1:18:03 - 1:18:08
GJ: Is there a general sadness, do you think, in the community because of the past?
1:18:08 - 1:18:57
MB: The new kids? I don’t think so. I mean, they didn't, you know…I mean, if they, their grandmothers and grandfathers and, you know, instilled it in them, they would probably. But if they were…they weren't so much brought up with the, you know, it's the…I mean Harry said, “History repeats itself.” And that's true. It’s right now, what happened to the Armenians now, over there. Nobody cares about them. They, they both–both America and Russia. The big powers are just looking for their own gain. They use the small countries to–to promote their own gain. They're not using, you know, like Russia, and America too!
1:18:57
GJ: Hm. I think we’re…I think that’s it!
1:19:00
MB: Yeah! Right!
1:19:02
GJ: Thank you so much.
1:19:03
MB: Oh, you’re welcome!
1:19:03
GJ: I really appreciate this.
1:19:04
MB: Oh, I hope–
1:19:05 - 1:19:07
GJ: Are you exhausted, from the time?1:19:08 - 1:19:14
MB: I guess so, I…Well, I tried to say what I had to say.

Mary Bedoian Interview, Part 3

1:19:31 - 1:19:48
GJ: So, I guess the question that we didn’t ask in the first interview that I wanted to ask and get a sense from you is, you know, if you could go back in time and speak to your mom and dad, or your grandparents, what would you ask them?
1:19:48 - 1:21:05
MB: I would have liked to ask my father who–what uncle gave him the money to make it to Ellis Island, New York. Because he was going to be drafted into the Turkish Army, and he came…And if it wasn't for his uncle, who gave him the money, he would have never survived. He would have been gone with his brother, who was 14 years old at the time. And…that’s one question I would have liked to ask him. And my mother, I would have liked to ask what her… people were like, you know…her father, my grandfather, what was he like before the Turks took him away, nine o’clock at night, and murdered him. In Smyrna, Greece, now called Izmir, Turkey, there was a hundred thousand Armenians living there at the time.
1:21:06 - 1:21:15
GJ: And on your father’s side, what did your father’s family do for a living?
1:21:16 - 1:21:38
MB: They were farmers. They were farmers. That’s why they never educated him. Because he was going to be a farm boy. And that’s why, you know, when he came to work at the Whitin Machine Works, he was the lowest paid on the pay scale. Because he couldn’t read and write the blueprints, he couldn’t–he was never educated.
1:21:39 - 1:21:43
GJ: And his brother, who was 14, what happened to him?
1:21:45 - 1:22:10
MB: That’s what…the Turks made those–made his brother and his mother march in the Syrian desert. Their–their bones are in the Syrian desert. That’s all I know from reading the Armenian newspaper. I wouldn’t even know that had, you know, had I not read the Armenian newspaper.
1:22:13 - 1:22:21
GJ: And on your father’s side, your grandmother–your grandfather was, what did he do for a living?
1:22:23 - 1:23:09
MB: I guess he was a farmer. But he had died at age 45 years old. He got ill. And he died at age 45. So his mother remarried to a man, Armenian man, who had two sons. You know, whose wife had died, and he had two sons. And my father just said that they were going–they were being educated. They were going to some kind of academy or something, some kind of school. That’s what my father said. So they perished too, his…
1:23:12
GJ: Wow.
1:23:12 - 1:23:14
MB: In the Syrian desert–
1:23:14
GJ: This is on your father’s side.
1:23:14 - 1:23:17
MB: Without food and water.
1:23:18 - 1:23:24
GJ: Yep. And now on your mother’s side, what did your mother’s father do in Smyrna?
1:23:24 - 1:24:06
MB: In Smyrna, Greece, now called Izmir, Turkey, he was a tailor. And he had, I guess, 13 girls or something under him. You know, working, sewing. And he could measure you a suit, and he could sew it. So they were…he was kind of, you know…it was a seaport, and of course, he was only 35 years of age when the Turks knocked on the door at nine o’clock at night and took him away and murdered him.
1:24:09 - 1:24:18
GJ: And what would you have liked to have asked him?
1:24:19 - 1:25:06
MB: Well it would have been nice to have grandparents. Because, you know, when you’re young, it’s nice to enjoy grandparents, you know. And we never had that, you know. Okay, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you know. That’s when you would like to have, you know, meet them, and they wouldn’t, you know, and have grandparents, you know. We didn’t have that. So it’s…when you’re a kid, that means quite a lot, when you’re young and you’re a kid, to have grandparents. But…you know, because of the Turks, we never had that.
1:25:07 - 1:25:12
GJ: Did that feel strange when you were growing up, that other kids had grandparents?
1:25:12 - 1:25:30
MB: Oh, yeah, I mean they would…oh, yes. I, you know, I had…Oh yes, because you’d see them come to the house, and it was, you know, they enjoyed their grandchildren, or they would go visit them.
1:25:34 - 1:25:37
GJ: Do you–there’s, obviously, grandparents spoil the grandchildren.
1:25:38
MB: Oh, yes.
1:25:39
GJ: There’s a lot of love there.
1:25:39
MB: Oh, yeah.
1:25:40 - 1:25:52
GJ: Do you feel that there was a…I don’t know how to ask this question. I don’t mean this in a bad way. But do you feel there was a lack of affection, or a lack of love in your household because you didn’t have grandparents?
1:25:53 - 1:26:09
MB: Well, it would have been nice, you know, to have that. Because, you know, like I say, at Christmastime and Thanksgiving, when you don’t—we didn’t have no grandparents. And you’re young, and it would have been so nice to have that. But the Turks…
1:26:11 - 1:26:18
GJ: What would you have asked them, if they were alive today? If your grandfather, who was the tailor, was alive today, what would you ask him?
1:26:19 - 1:26:53
MB: That’s a hard question, you know. I just would have liked to, you know, it would have been nice to have known them. And, you know, to have more, the love, you know, that…you know, grandparents, you know…you know, it would be nice to have them. It just…but without…but we had no…living relatives. And we were brought up, you know, without them. And it…there was a void, in a child’s life, when you don’t have grandparents.

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