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MPO History

From The Beginning

Founded on October 22, 1922, the Macedonian Patriotic Organization of the United States and Canada (MPO) is the oldest not-for-profit organization of Americans and Canadians of Macedonian descent in North America, and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The MPO was founded by Macedonian immigrants, including several who fought against the Ottoman Empire during the Ilinden Uprising of 1903.

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Founding Fathers

The MPO was founded during the turbulent years following the peace treaties which ended the first world war in 1918. The widely proclaimed 14 points by United States President Woodrow Wilson for national self-determination met with an almost savage rejection by the French, the British and their allies. Once the war was won they had no use for Wilson’s idealism and no serious intentions of establishing a lasting peace in the war-torn continent. The prospect for freedom by many groups, such as the Macedonians, was dashed. Macedonia was put back under the oppressive regime of the Serbians and the Greeks in spite of the warning by well-known political experts that the unsolved Macedonian problem would keep the Balkans in constant turmoil.

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Our Mission

From its inception to the current day, the MPO has advocated for the establishment of a free, independent and united Macedonia that guarantees the civil and human rights of all of its citizens. In keeping with the dream of a united and independent Macedonia, the founders adopted as the MPO’s slogan the eloquent and simple words of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Gladstone who, in expressing his views on the “Macedonian Issue” in 1897, clearly proclaimed “Macedonia for the Macedonians.” In addition to being the oldest Macedonian organization in North America, the MPO is also the publisher of the MACEDONIAN TRIBUNE, the oldest Macedonian newspaper in the world, published without interruption since 1927.

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MPO Milestones

MPO founded, Fort Wayne Indiana

Macedonian Press Bureau founded, New York City

Macedonian Tribune first published on February 10, Indianapolis, National MPO Ladies’ Section founded

Almanac Macedonia published

National YMPO founded

MPO representatives lobby the United Nations on conditions in Macedonia

MPO Representatives speak briefly with President Lyndon B. Johnson and Michigan Governor Gerhard Williams at the Detroit Convention

Macedonian Tribune moved to Fort Wayne and Dorie Atzeff Reynolds becomes the first woman editor

Helen Petroff of Springfield, Ohio becomes the first woman to serve on the MPO Central Committee

Gotse Delchev Fellowship founded, Freedom Monument dedicated, Ft. Wayne

First Macedonian Day of Learning held at Sawmill Creek Resort – Ohio

Ivan Mihailov, Leader of the Macedonian Liberation Movement, dies, Indiana Historic Marker dedicated at site of first Macedonian Tribune office, Indianapolis

MPO purchases Macedonian Tribune Building, Ft. Wayne

Macedonian Veterans Association and Macedonian Professional Association founded, Wreath Laid at Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery

MPO establishes website at www.macedonian.org

Macedonian Tribune Page One Major Events of the 20th Century is published.

MPO delegation meets with President George W. Bush in Washington DC

100th Anniversary of Ilinden is commemorated

MPO sponsors first trip to Macedonia

MPO delegation celebrates the opening of the Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia’s new embassy in the United States

Andrea Alusheff becomes the first woman MPO President

Fred Meanchoff, MPO President, travels to Brussels to meet with European Union representatives

MPO revised bylaws are passed

MPO revised bylaws are passed

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The MPO Beginning

Having been forced out of their motherland Macedonia by the exceedingly harsh new political, cultural, religious and national enslavement initiated by the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, the freedom fighters of the 1903 Ilinden insurrection turned their sight on the new land of political freedom, of economic opportunity and of basic human rights, which beckoned to them from across the wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. They came by the thousands to establish their new homes in the United States of America and Canada.
 
As the freedom fighters settled into life in these two young, vibrant nations, they looked back on the tragedy of their native Macedonia and decided that it was their inherent duty to keep alive the torch of freedom that they had lighted in the valiant days of Ilinden 1903. 
 
So, in 1922, their delegates met in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and charted a framework within which to build the firm structure of the new organization. At the first Convention considerable attention was given to find an appropriate name for the newly formed organization. The proposal for Macedonian Patriotic Organization was rejected because after the defeat of the Central Powers in the World War I, the word “patriot” had assumed a negative connotation.  The convention settled for the name of Macedonian Political Organization, which, happily, in 1956 was restored to the original proposal – Macedonian Patriotic Organization.
 
To regulate this structure, guidelines and rules were necessary. These were carefully considered and adopted at this Constituent Convention of the MPO.  Throughout the next several conventions, the delegates diligently worked on improvements and additions to the original bylaws which were adopted in final form in 1927.  The first copy was printed by the Macedonian Tribune office in 1928.  The extensive time and consideration the MPO founders devoted to developing the bylaws resulted in a masterpiece of good statesmanship and political vision. 
 
And the rest is history – documented in the most authentic way, as a vivid testimony of lives, ideals, desires and struggles of Macedonians in North America. Over the last century, the MPO became the only free consciousness of enslaved Macedonia. With its firm and uncompromising stand for a free, independent and united Macedonian state the MPO became a Macedonian legend, second only to IMRO, and the highest symbol of the legal struggle of the Macedonian Liberation movement throughout the world. 
 
MPO approaches the third millennium with even greater enthusiasm than its founders had at the beginning of this century. The century-old struggle has been rewarded with the existence of a free and independent Macedonian state. While the fundamental goals of the Organization, as stated in its original bylaws remain the same, its contemporary purpose is best summarized in our updated mission statement and Bylaws.  
 
For most of our history, the Macedonian Tribune has been our primary voice in achieving this mission. However, with changes in technology, our website, our Facebook page and other social media are utilized to reach an even broader audience.

Founding Fathers

The MPO was founded during the turbulent years following the peace treaties which ended the first world war in 1918. The widely proclaimed 14 points by United States President Woodrow Wilson for national self-determination met with an almost savage rejection by the French, the British and their allies. Once the war was won they had no use for Wilson’s idealism and no serious intentions of establishing a lasting peace in the war-torn continent. The prospect for freedom by many groups such as the Macedonians was dashed. Macedonia was put back under the oppressive regime of the Serbians and the Greeks in spite of the warning by well-known political experts that the unsolved Macedonian problem would keep the Balkans in constant turmoil.
 
The effect of this decision was devastating for all patriotic Macedono-Bulgarians in the United States and Canada who had spared no effort to demand the creation of a free and independent Macedonia. Their hopes dashed, their spirit suppressed, a dangerous wave of apathy and indifference settled over most of our countrymen, and all attempts to keep the organized groups together and hope for another day met with failure and, in some circles, with unnecessary abuse. Patriots and patriotism became words for ridicule.  
 
The Macedono-Bulgarian National Union, which only a few years before had valiantly struggled in support of the Macedonian cause, abruptly fell apart. This situation added extra fuel to accelerate the general indifference. No formal notice was given and no one knew who took this action and why. The prevailing apathy encouraged the few radical nests in our settlements to start fishing in muddy waters. And there were also individuals who, for some mysterious reasons best known to them, were strenuously opposed to the reorganization of the former groups.
 
Under the prevailing conditions the prospects for a new organized body to continue the struggle for the freedom of Macedonia were anything but favorable. Ardent participants in the struggle, who a few short years before proudly carried the organization’s banner, now refused to be identified with any patriotic group.  The apathy was deep and widespread.
 
Fortunately, it did not affect everyone and did not reach some of our oldest settlements. A few of the brotherhoods remained intact. If the heart was not bursting with flaming fire, the sparks were still there and could be ignited at any time.
 
The appeals for a renewed struggle first came from Ft. Wayne, Ind., where the brotherhood had remained active and intact. Steelton, Pa., another strong Macedonian bastion, followed the example of Ft. Wayne and began its own campaign. These appeals were heeded by the Macedonian groups in Indianapolis, Gary, Lansing, Detroit, Dayton, Springfield, Cincinnati and New York. Slowly but surely the fog was dissipated. Now as before, the sufferings for our brothers and sisters in Macedonia under Serbian and Greek rule became the main object of concern for these groups.
 
But their task was not easy. Beside waging a struggle against the enemy in their homeland, they had to fight vicious and misdirected opposition in their home base. They ganged up from all sides like hungry vultures ready for the kill. But nothing could discourage these sturdy and dedicated men who had been tortured in the Turkish dungeons in Bitola and Solun, tempered during the great insurrection in battle with undisciplined Bashi Bozouks, and at times forced to set their own homes on fire so that the enemy would not get hold of hidden arms, dynamite and ammunition. Is it any wonder then that these strong-willed individuals built the foundation of the MPO and the MACEDONIAN TRIBUNE which have lasted for over six [seven] decades?
 
It did not take long for the reactivated groups to move from words to action. By unanimous consent Ft. Wayne was chosen as the site for the first formative convention. It was called to order on Oct. 2, 1922, with a handful of delegates present. With few exceptions, most of the delegates were veterans of the Ilinden Insurrection in 1903.
 
The deliberation centered on the condition in Macedonia, where the Bulgarian schools and churches were forcibly closed and the teachers and priests arrested or exiled. Writing the by-laws took considerable time, but the product was a masterpiece of good statesmanship and political vision. It opened the doors for everyone born in Macedonia regardless of religion or national origin, who would willingly accept the main objective of the organization the creation of a free and independent Macedonia with equal rights and privileges for all its citizens. The unanimously accepted resolution stressed the main point of the by-laws and implored the great powers to assist in solving this problem.
 
Then came the election of officers. The results were as follows: Anastas Stephanoff of Ft. Wayne, president; Trayan Nickoloff of Indianapolis, vice-president Michael Nickoloff of Ft. Wayne, Secretary; Atanas Lebamoff of Ft Wayne, treasurer, and Pavel Angeloff of Chicago, advisor. Ft. Wayne was selected as the temporary headquarters of the Central Committee. Indianapolis was chosen as the site for the next annual convention.
 
The session ended in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and complete agreement among all delegates. No banquet followed the closing of the convention. The delegates gathered in one of our restaurants for a simple meal and prolonged friendly conversation.
 
The writer had worked for the MPO for more than 40 years. After retirement he continued to write articles for this newspaper until his death in 1989.