Film & Mill Talk: Destination Watertown- the Armenians of Hood Rubber

Film Screening and Mill Talk: Destination Watertown - The Armenians of Hood Rubber

In 1896, the Hood Rubber Company opened in Watertown, Massachusetts, attracting Armenian Immigrant laborers, refugees from the Abdul Hamid Massacres in the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the subsequent Genocide of 1915. This film tells the stories and reflections of former employees of Armenian descent, Watertown residents, and descendants of the Hood family, interspersed with personal and historic photographs, archival films, maps, documents, artifacts, and images of the remnants of the old factory, once the largest of its kind in the world, producing rubber footwear and tires, among other products.

Workers recount life on the conveyor belt, piecework, exposure to chemicals, and workplace injuries, yet considered themselves fortunate to have a job. For East Watertown residents, Hood Rubber was their neighborhood. They fondly remember the famous "sneaker test," whereby the durability of the product was demonstrated through the daily activities of local kids. Most importantly, this factory, which closed in 1969, was the impetus for the establishment of the Armenian community of Watertown.

Written, videotaped, and edited by Roger K. Hagopian, a recipient of the Watertown Historical Commission's Community Spirit Award for 2009.

Bio: Roger Hagopian grew up in Dorchester and lives in Lexington, where he learned filmmaking at the local cable television studio there.A history lover since his youth, he has had film screenings on the Armenians and the Genocide - which his father survived, and claimed the lives of family members on both sides - World War II veterans, factory workers, and local American history, including the canal that bisected Boston and the Middlesex Canal, the first locks and aqueducts waterway in America, and the lost towns flooded for the creation of Quabbin Reservoir - at universities, high schools, public libraries, historical societies, churches, synagogues, community centers, and other public and private venues.Roger has also appeared on local cable television stations and radio programs.He is currently conducting interviews with Vietnam War veterans for a future documentary film.