MPO History - From the Beginning

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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.