An unexplored aspect of the history of Greek overseas migration in the early 20th century concerns the new economic functions developed in port cities of the Greek state that were directly connected to the United States of America and managed the organization of migratory mobility until the Interwar period.
This study focuses on these "migration gateways" and their economies. Key players include the port of Patras, the company "Austro-American," the office "G. Murphy and Son, Krov and Stevens," and other migration agencies on St. Andrew Street, the commercial and working-class community of the coastal zone, the American consulate, Greek and Eastern migrant consumers, illegal smuggling networks, organized excursions by Greek-American associations during the Interwar period, and the "war of the ports." Patras' migration economy intersects with the operations of major Mediterranean and Western European transportation hubs and activities of smaller ports in the Peloponnese, such as Kalamata, Gytheio, and Katakolo; it is primarily intertwined with national migration policies, the Greek shipping industry, and the competing interests of Piraeus.
In these gateways, transatlantic migration emerges as mediated mobility, a profitable yet fragile economic enterprise with international scope and transformative impact at the local level.
