An Armenian from the Deep South: HIS story.

Vahe H. Apelian

 

“The lectern has been my pulpit for fifty years, and I thank God for that.” Edward M. Panosian.

According to the Wikipeida, the term "Deep South" is defined in a variety of ways: Most definitions include the following states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. This story comes from Greenville, South Carolina where Bob Jones University is located. It is the story of Ed Panosian, a story of God’s gracious providence that unfolded there, in the Bob Jones University where Dr. Ed Panosian taught for 52 years and lived on the campus with his family with his wife teaching there as well for decades.

Before writing about the book I read, titled “Panosian: A Story of God’s Gracious Providence”, by Chris Anderson, a one time student of his, I would like to note how I came across the name Ed Panosian and how I got the book about him. 

I do not remember when and how it was that I stumbled across a video recording with the same wording as the book’s title. It was a tribute to a Panosian. The name may have been the very reason that the video caught my attention and what a tribute it turned out to be in appreciation of a man who taught thousands of students and set an example. 

The tribute had taken place on October10, 2019 at Bob Jones University homecoming concert tracing the story of a man which was also no less the story of his parents who were survivors of the Armenian Genocide. And In consideration of his Armenian heritage, the Bob Jones concert played Alan Hovhanness’ Exile (Aksor-Աքսոր) symphony. The only other Armenian presence in the tribute appeared to be that of Mariam Matossian who sang several Armenian songs. In between Dr. Ed Panosian spoke about his parents in the context of the Armenian history. 

I posted the video - see the link below - on my Facebook pages and invited friends to watch it. Several did and much like me, they too were captivated by the tribute to a man simply because who he was and the example he had set to many. Two days ago, on Sunday morning, as we were getting ready to leave to church, I found the book “Panosian, A Story of God’s Providence” at the door. It turned out that my friend Hagop Toroyan, out of appreciation for having brought to his attention the story of Ed Panosian, had gifted the book about him to me, through Amazon.  The book was written in 2018 and the tribute to Dr. Ed Panosian had adopted the book’s title. The author of the book Chris Anderson was a student of his and captured the story and the essence of the man Dr. Ed Panosian.

The book makes for a captivating reading of his upbringing. Edward Panosian’s parents were Cilician Armenians. His father Nazar was born in Beilan where the Apelian family is said to have originated. His mother was born in Antioch/Antakya. I have been in both. Their stories are the stories of the Cilician Armenians. Nazar Panosian, was a a teenage orphaned cobbler who had apprenticed with a gentle Turk, left the region leaving, out of necessity, his younger brother behind with a promise of having him brought to America after settling there. Regretfully that would not happen because of the genocide.

Ed Panosian maternal grandmother, whose husband was killed during the Adana massacres, out of necessity as well, left her three children, two girls and a boy, behind in an orphanage in Beirut, and came to America  to join her uncle and then have her children join her, after saving enough to pay for their passage. But, the family remained separated during the following 8 years because of the first world war. After the war, her uncle did not let her go, and went instead to Beirut looking for the children of her niece and miraculously found them and brought them with him to America to join their mother. One of the daughters was named Sara whom Nazar Panosian, Ed's father, met and married. The young couple had four children. Nazar named their first born, a son, after his brother who perished during the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

In time Nazar Panosian expanded his shoe repair business to trading in shoes and founded a thriving business in Elmira, NY, as Panosian Shoes that currently is run by his grandson. Nazar and Sara’s son Edward pursued his calling. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in Bob Jones University, met his wife Betty there and became a member of the faculty and ended up teaching there for 52 years becoming an iconic figure.

Dr. Ed Panosian became known for his teaching of world history. He was tall, had a commanding voice that is said to give James Earl Jones a run for his money and was also a gifted actor on stage. He became a beloved faculty member and earned the trust and the admiration of the Bob Jones, the university’s founding family. Throughout the fifty plus years, Dr. Ed Panosian taught a few generations as the country experienced the Vietnam War, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Watergate and so forth. Throughout his teaching Dr. Ed Panosian is remembered making history as HIS story and making his lectern a pulpit, remaining a man of deep seated Christian conviction and remained grateful to God for meriting him an abundant life, in matters that mattered for him as a devout Christian. 

The book lists tributes from his family, from his students, from his colleagues, from pastors, and public servants. I would like to quote from two. The governor of great state of Arkansas and the president of Bob Jones University.

“As a college student, I was challenged by the teaching of Dr. Edward Panosian in a required class called the History of Western Civilization. I will never forget the passion of Dr. Panosian teaching history and the clarity with which he taught about two different world views that have defined our past. He instilled into me a love for history and how it can inform us as we address the challenges of this generation.”  Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas.

“What a story! What a man! What af life! I can see Dr. Panosian in my mind riding his bicycle, smiling with grace toward all his students, and standing before his class as if he were an actor on stage. I’ll never forget his lectures in my two semesters of Church History. Ed Panosian represents the best of  Bob Jones University in every way. A compelling life message of a true giant !”. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina.

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A tribute: Panosian, a story of God's gracscious providence

The 2019 Bob Jones University Homecoming Concert traces the hand of Providence through story and song in a one-of-a-kind multimedia concert experience telling a tale of remembrance, resilience, and redemption in the lives of two families affected by the Armenian Genocide (1915-1920). Dr. Ed Panosian, beloved history professor at BJU for over five decades, and singer/songwriter Mariam Matossian together share an unforgettably heart-warming story of perseverance in persecution, divine protection, and the fragile but flourishing culture of a people preserved.

Paul Radford, Director | Michael Moore, Conductor

Introduction—Edward Panosian Interview (0:00)

1st Movement—Hovhanness: Exile Symphony—BJU Orchestra (06:37)

Armenian Genocide Explained—Edward Panosian Interview (15:15)

2nd Movement—Hovhanness: Exile Symphony—BJU Orchestra (20:56)

Edward Panosian’s Family Survival—Interview (24:28)

3rd Movement—Hovhanness: Exile Symphony—BJU Orchestra (33:00)

Genocide Outcome—Edward Panosian Interview (42:40)

Lord, Have Mercy—Mariam Matossian (48:40)

Dle Yaman—Mariam Matossian (58:10)

A Bride’s Song—Mariam Matossian (01:08:39)

Edward Panosian’s Testimony—Interview (01:14:24)

Armenia—Mariam Matossian (01:23:55)

Partridge—Mariam Matossian (01:27:04)

Sunshine—Mariam Matossian (01:37:28)

Alan Hovhaness, a prolific American composer of Armenian descent, penned his first symphony in 1937 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide. Structured in three sections, the original headings of “Lament,” “Conflict” and “Triumph” were dropped from the movements when the composer revised the work in 1970. But the work’s original title, Exile Symphony, was retained as an enduring tribute to those who perished in the atrocities of 1915–1920. Long solo clarinet lines in the opening section intone a haunting lamentation while harp and strings march in quiet procession, interrupted by menacing chords from the brass—perhaps a musical depiction of the notorious death marches into the desert. Hovhaness replaced the original second movement (“Conflict”) with an entirely different grazioso movement in the revised version. Here the composer seems to reminisce on happier times with an ancient but gentle pastoral melody of a shepherd’s pipe wafting across the beautiful Armenian countryside. The final movement opens with the lament and terror of the first, out of which emerges a stately hymn, first struggling in broken statements to be heard, but eventually culminating in the exultant paean of a people triumphant in the face of persecution. As the closing chords of the hymn die away, we hear the hollow sound of two clarinets quietly lingering in the air as if to say, “remember.” 

Nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award and two Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2008, Mariam Matossian is an example of the musical treasures that exist in the world next door. Born and raised in Vancouver, Mariam has been collecting traditional Armenian folk songs and creating her own melodies since she was a child. Most of the traditional songs she sings have been passed down through her family—songs that have been favorites of her grandmother and her mother, and now they have become her own favorites. With over ten years of training in classical voice, Mariam brings the range and control of a classical singer to the spontaneity and passion of the folk tradition and combines the two to produce a synthesis that has earned her rave reviews from everyone who has heard her. Mariam has released two recordings, Far From Home and In the Light, both a collection of timeless Armenian folk songs that she has reinterpreted and new songs that she has written. Her recordings, which have been praised for their “emotional resonance” and “impressive” moving arrangements, have received airplay across Canada, the United States, Europe and the Middle East. She has performed at festivals across Canada and in the United States with acclaimed musicians including Elliot Polsky, River Guerguerian, Chris Rosser, Eliot Wadopian, and John Berberian. Mariam is delighted to share the beauty and richness of her beloved Armenian culture with a world audience.

| The BJU Division of Music is a community of students and faculty committed to pursuing and sharing the beauty of God through musical excellence and redemptive artistry.