US HOSTS "THE ARMENIANS OF HOOD RUBBER" DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.03.2010 19:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Thursday, March 11, ALMA and the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research presented a video
screening of Destination Watertown: The Armenians of Hood Rubber by
Roger Hagopian. The video screening took place at NAASR.

The documentary is about the Hood Rubber Company of Watertown, Mass.,
which employed many immigrants, including many Armenians, whose
community evolved in the shadow of the factory’s giant smokestack.

Indeed, the plant provided the impetus for the formation of the
Armenian community of Watertown.

The plant opened in 1896, attracting Armenian immigrants newly-arrived
from the Ottoman Empire, including refugees from the Hamidean Massacres
of the mid-1890s.

Hood Rubber became a subsidiary of B. F. Goodrich in 1929, and the
factory survived the great Depression and thrived during World War II.

It closed in 1969.

Director Roger Hagopian has conducted extensive research and carried
out numerous interviews with former factory employees of Armenian
descent as well as other East Watertown residents and descendants
of the Hood family. The documentary combines interview footage with
historic photographs, maps, documents, artifacts and images of the
remnants of the old factory, once one of the largest of its kind in
the world.

Workers recount life on the conveyor belt and other harsh working
conditions, yet many remember their time at the plant with gratitude,
affections and humor. Others fondly remember the famous "sneaker"
test whereby the durability of the product was demonstrated through
daily activities of local kids.

Roger Hagopian was on hand to discuss the creation of this unique
document of an important slice of Armenian-American history.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress