Γιώτα Τουργέλη [Giota Tourgeli], Πύλες Εξόδου προς την Αμερική: Η οικονομία της υπερατλαντικής μετανάστευσης στα ελληνικά λιμάνια (1890-1940) [Gateways to America: The Migration Economy in the Greek Port Cities (1890–1940)]. Heraklion: Crete University Press, 2025. Pages 288.

During the early twentieth century, thousands of people from Greece, the Ottoman Empire, and the wider Eastern Mediterranean arrived in Greek ports seeking passage aboard the next ocean liner bound for New York. How did these emigrants navigate their journey across the Atlantic? What role did agents and other middlemen play in facilitating and stimulating this movement? And how did this mobility transform the port cities through which they passed?

Gateways to America sheds light on a relatively unexplored area of Greek migration history to the United States. While previous research has focused predominantly on the immigrant experience in the country of destination, Tourgeli’s book shifts attention to the infrastructure and economy that made this movement possible. By placing the port of Patras—the most important Greek port of the era alongside Piraeus—at the center of the narrative, the author examines the different layers of the emigration business. The analysis spans from the emergence of the migration economy in the early twentieth century through the interwar period, which marked the demise of transatlantic migration and the subsequent transformation of the maritime sector.

Giota Tourgeli is a historian, an upper secondary school teacher and a postdoctoral researcher on the project “Greek Guest Workers in Postwar Germany: A History of Diversity, Complexity, and Change” at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens. She has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher on another project at the same institution, and as a teaching associate at the University of Peloponnese. Her main research interests revolve around the history of migration, including its transnational and gender aspects. Gateways to America derives from her doctoral dissertation, which was completed at the University of Peloponnese in 2019. It is the second major publication of her seminal work, following her first book, titled The “Brooklides”: Greek Immigrants in the United States and the Transformations of Origin Communities, 1890-1940.¹ This debut volume focused on the role of Greek immigrants in the United States in the economic, social, cultural and political transformation of their communities of origin. It examined several dimensions of this topic, including economic practices such as remittances and donations, knowledge transfer, and family transformation.

Gateways to America is divided into eight chapters. It opens with an overview of the evolution of transatlantic migration and the transformation of maritime transport. Developments in transportation technology, and particularly the introduction of the steam engine, fundamentally altered how people moved across the salt-water curtain of the Atlantic. The transition from sail to steam resulted in faster and more reliable maritime connections between European and American ports, as well as better conditions aboard ships. Transatlantic migration from the Mediterranean consequently evolved into a profitable sector, resulting not only in the development of new ports, such as Trieste, Marseille, Naples, and Piraeus and Patras in Greece, but also in the establishment and expansion of shipping lines. Foreign lines, such as the Austrian Austro-Americana, expanded their services to Greece to serve the emerging demand from the Eastern Mediterranean, while Greek lines, including the Hellenic Transatlantic Line and the National Steam Navigation Company of Greece, were established to secure a share of this market. This newly configured commercial landscape led to intense competition between the lines, which manifested in local societies through excessive advertising, volatile ticket costs, conflicts and formal agreements.

Chapter two introduces the reader to the concept of migration as a “business,” investigating legislative and political dimensions across different countries. According to Tourgeli, migration was not solely connected to the economy but was also inextricably linked to political decisions or lack of legislative initiatives. In this aspect, the restrictive measures adopted progressively by the US government during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (most importantly the Quota Laws of 1921 and 1924) altered mobility patterns between the two continents and therefore local ecosystems. Migration thus emerges as a transnational process, shaped simultaneously by policies at the national level—particularly those of the receiving countries like the United States—and by their consequences in distant places.

The third chapter engages with one of the most important components of the business of transatlantic migration: the steamship agents. The author traces the origin of these middlemen and agents in Patras back to the period of the currant trade in the late nineteenth century, which set the foundations for the migration business. The chapter reconstructs the business model of these organizations, including the formation of the first agencies, their operations, and relationships with foreign lines. Specifically, it analyzes individual case studies of agents, such as Christos Christofis. Although the main source of income was the commissions from steerage tickets, these agents were also active in other related commercial activities, such as maritime insurance and trade. Of particular significance here are the more illicit or exploitative dimensions of their operations. In the absence of governmental protection in Greece, agents were often accused of fraud, including the issuing of false tickets, promises of passing medical inspection and guaranteed entry to the United States, or violating American laws regarding contract labor.

Building on this analysis, chapter four delves into the case of Patras, examining the local agencies, and Austro-Americana in particular. It focuses on the agencies of Morphy & Sons and Crowe & Stevens, which served as the exclusive representatives of the Austrian line from its inaugural voyages through the Greek port in 1905 onward. The chapter demonstrates how the agency managed to quickly establish an extensive network of sub-agencies initially throughout the Peloponnese and later across Greece, competing with other firms, such as those representing the Greek lines, the French Fabre, the British Cunard, and the White Star.

Tourgeli highlights the key factors behind Austro-Americana’s success and its higher passenger numbers over rival lines, including effective advertising and high quality of service. In the post-WWI era, following the annexation of Trieste to Italy, the company was renamed Cosulich and operated under the Italian flag. Thus, the steep decline in the number of steerage passengers leaving from Patras, due to restrictions imposed by the United States, transformed the line’s business model, which subsequently shifted its focus toward luxury and comfort travel, targeting returning Greek Americans and tourists.

Chapter five sheds light on an aspect of Greek transatlantic migration that has received less attention: the networks of illegal migrant smuggling. Their development can be attributed to several factors. First, one of the reasons behind the development of such networks was the rejection by the American authorities that occurred if a migrant failed the medical inspection, lacked the required documents or the necessary funds to enter, or violated contract labor laws. Second, the introduction of the Quota laws in 1921 and 1924 limited the number of migrants from Greece allowed to enter the United States. To circumvent these restrictions, a system comprising steamship agents, ship crew members, and officials collaborated to smuggle migrants to the United States. This practice was not limited to Greek citizens. During this period, Patras and Piraeus became international nodes for migrants coming from other regions, including the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, and Syria, many of whom were also victims of such networks.

Chapter six turns to the commercial dimensions of the transatlantic migration business. First, it examines the migrants’ contributions to the local economy, which included medical costs, hotels, food, clothes and transportation, contributing to the growth of port cities like Patras. However, migrants were not the only passenger group consuming at the ports, as returning immigrants and Greek American tourists also constituted an important category of consumers. These passengers were usually more financially established and could afford to spend money during their stay in port, demonstrating the transnational dimension of steamship travel.

The next chapter focuses on the competition between Patras and Greece’s other large port, Piraeus. It demonstrates how the involvement of prominent ship-owning families, predominantly the Embiricos family, owner of the National Steam Navigation Co. of Greece, attempted to influence the maritime sector. Nevertheless, Tourgeli argues that despite several bills that attempted to prioritize the port of Piraeus over Patras, the reaction by locals on multiple occasions led to the suspension of these plans, showcasing the importance of migration for the local economy.

The final chapter shifts attention from westbound migration to movement in the opposite direction and to the development of diaspora tourism. The growing connection between the Greek and American ports was not one-way. While migration was the primary focus of the shipping lines, during the eastbound journey, the ships carried returning migrants, tourists and other passengers. These varied mobilities included Greek Americans who travelled to Greece either for family reasons or tourism. Particularly important was organized group travel. During the late 1920s and 1930s, several Greek American organizations, such as the AHEPA and GAPA, collaborated with shipping companies to organize group tours to Greece. These trips were usually widely advertised in both the Greek and Greek American press, generating enthusiasm among local crowds and shaping the image of the Greek American, who travelled in first or tourist class. This alternative mobility offered not only additional income to the agents and shipping lines, especially after the restrictions of 1924, but also showcased the transnational element of transatlantic travel during this period.

Gateways to America is primarily a work of economic history. The author delves into the various layers of business segments, institutions, and actors that constituted the migration economy and transformed Patras into an emigration port. Tourgeli effectively demonstrates that migration brought economic development to the region, creating new professions (such as ticket agents), expanding existing industries (such as hospitality), and fostering capital accumulation. At the same time, to compete with other ports in Greece and the Mediterranean, the emigration industry transitioned from an early model based on improvisation to an increasingly systematized operation.

The book’s analysis of the consumer behavior not only of departing Greeks and other emigrants but also of returning immigrants and their contribution to host communities offers an additional perspective on the impact of migration on the local economy as well as what it means to write bottom-up history. Lastly, the author does not offer a romanticized version of the enterprise, as the emigration business frequently operated outside the law. Middlemen, agents and others involved in the maritime business were often entangled in smuggling networks and fraudulent practices, exploiting not only migrants’ desire to travel and limited knowledge but also the absence of a legal framework and governmental intervention to protect steerage passengers. Taking these aspects into consideration, the book deserves a place alongside other important works on the emigration business in European ports.²

Another important thread running through the book is transnationality. Tourgeli shows that migration cannot be analyzed solely through a national lens but must be examined in relation to broader interconnections. The book demonstrates that migration transformed local societies—in this case, particularly the port cities—economically, culturally and socially, through the transnational mobility of the period. This resulted not only from the movement of passengers, but also from the transnational connections forged between the two continents. The operation of steamship agencies, clearly the most important factor in the emigration business, was based on knowledge transfer around best practices in advertising, operating models, ticketing and passenger services, which evolved continuously alongside the movement of people across the continents.

The author also shows that the migration business moved between the local and the global. While particular locations, such as the port of Patras, retained their own characteristics and peculiarities, they nonetheless operated within a larger global framework. These two elements were inherently intertwined: Patras could not have developed as an important emigration port without being included in a global network of migrant mobilities, agents, shipping companies, and policymakers. At the same time, however, the global enterprise of the emigration business reached its peak only when regional ports, subagencies in remote villages, and local entrepreneurs became part of the structure.

Given the transnational reach of the analysis, this study could have achieved deeper insights into the multifaceted nature of the migration economy by engaging more fully with archival collections in the United States, Austria, Italy, France, and other countries involved in these passenger movement networks. However, doing so would have been a vast undertaking, perhaps better suited for a separate project. In light of the subject’s broad thematic scope, Tourgeli’s meticulous engagement with Greek archival sources is particularly noteworthy, especially considering that this is the first major historiographical study on the topic.

Overall, Gateways to America addresses an important lacuna in the historiography of Greek migration, serving as an essential resource for scholars working on related topics. It offers a thorough analysis of the system behind the emigration business, shedding light on overlooked aspects of the migration experience. In this respect, the book is a valuable contribution not only to Greek migration history but also to the broader history of maritime mobility and the business of migration. Alongside its predecessor, the Brouklides, it stands among historical works that revolve around the transnational and overlooked aspects of the Greek diaspora.³ Lastly, it not only opens several avenues for further research on individual topics, but also invites comparative examinations with other migrant groups and varied geographical and chronological settings.

Argyrios Sakorafas

Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

September 20, 2026

Argyrios Sakorafas is a PhD candidate at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Chair for Transcultural Studies, member of the ERC-funded project MEDMACH - 'Machinery Rooms' of the Mediterranean, 1800-present: Images and Visual Archives of Movement and Acceleration. His dissertation examines the evolution of steamship travel in the Mediterranean through written and visual material of the period, investigating life aboard the ocean liners. This work is supported by a European Research Council grant (ERC Horizon Europe, funding ID 101042597). Views and opinions expressed are however, those of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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