“Attorney Finds Her Armenian Heritage in America,” By Anne Marie Ruff, Daily Journal, January 29, 2007

Copyright 2007 Daily Journal Corp. Reprinted and/or posted with permission.

Editor's Note: The United States is a nation of immigrants. More than one in four California residents came here from foreign lands, and 13 percent of the state's lawyers - 19,000 attorneys - are immigrants. In this occasional series, we look at some of those attorneys and their pursuit of the American Dream.


Betty Jamgotchian, is an attorney at the law office of Saro K. Kerkonian, in Glendale, the heart of Los Angeles' sizable Armenian community. She came to the U.S. from Jordan as a child with her parents. It was the latest step in a generations-long family journey from Turkey.
Her life in America has been a world away. She lived in New York and Boston before coming to Glendale in 1958. She studied at the University of Southern California and received her law degree from Southwestern University School of Law.
She has worked at a number of small law firms, including the Law Office of Robert L. Esensten, a fellow law-school graduate. She had a solo practice from 1980 to 1986, before her children were born and again from 1992 to 2004, practicing in the areas of civil litigation and immigration. She also has served as a mediator for the Los Angeles County Superior Court and a volunteer judge pro tem in the Glendale Court and is the executive director of the Armenian Bar Association.
Jamgotchian told her story to Daily Journal Staff Writer Anne Marie Ruff at a Lebanese-Armenian restaurant in Glendale over a feast of hummus, fatoush salad, sarma, kufta, calamari, baba ganoush and olives spicy enough to 'make your tongue turn somersaults.'

I never imagined I'd marry an Armenian, because there weren't any Armenians here when I grew up. I didn't know any Armenians until I went to college.
I grew up in Glendale, and I was the only Armenian in my grade school. I grew up with a variety of ethnic groups; Irish, Germans, Italians. We just considered ourselves American.
My grandparents left Turkey after the genocide. My father's side came from Turkey to Jerusalem; my mother's side came from Turkey to near Tel Aviv. My parents met in 1947 and married in 1948. They had to leave because bombs were dropping because of the Arab-Israeli war. Like many people, they just turned the key in the lock of their stone house and left.
I was born in Jordan while they were waiting for a visa. There was a special program under Eisenhower to take care of displaced persons.
I have memories of playing in a meadow in Jordan with other children; there were these beautiful red poppies. I remember my uncle putting me on the roof of a car for the parade for the crowning of King Hussein.
They tell me I spoke several languages, but I don't remember that. When I came here and I started in American schools, I would only speak English.
My father only wanted to come to the U.S. There was some kind of electric attraction. He had a thirst for education, and this was the land of opportunity. He was very modern, very forward-thinking. I mean, he named me Betty - while we were in Jordan.
I was 5 by the time we were allowed to come.
My sister was born in New York City on the Fourth of July, the most American baby you can imagine. They were in the hospital when they heard noises outside. My mother said, 'Are they bombing again?' She was very relieved when they told her, 'No, it's a celebration.'
Even though my parents came as displaced persons, they didn't come as refugees. They wanted to work and be productive; not one day were they on welfare.
They were educated in British and French schools and spoke English very well, so it was easy for them to get jobs. My father got a job working for Keystone Camera Co. in Boston. My mother was a preschool teacher.
My father was transferred here in the mid-1950s when Keystone opened a branch in Glendale.
My parents might have had a little accent because they spoke five languages. I didn't have an accent, except, when I came to California, I got a giggle from my classmates because of my Boston accent. I said 'aunt' instead of 'ant.' My teacher had to explain that 'aunt' was in fact correct and that was how people spoke in Boston.
I never imagined that America the way I knew it would have so many immigrants. When my parents came, there hadn't been a big influx of immigrants since the Irish or the Italians.
The first big influx of Armenians I remember was from the Lebanon war in the 1970s. My relatives were in Lebanon. I met my cousins for the first time [here] after the war in Lebanon. Then, in the late 1970s, Armenians came because of the revolution in Iran. Then there were a few from Iraq. In 1990, when the Soviet state crumbled, there was an influx of Armenians from post-Soviet Armenia.
In 1976, when I graduated from law school, there was an Armenian Lawyers Association. My mentor took me to a meeting, and they made me their secretary and then eventually their president. Deukmejian was part of that group.
It was interesting to get back to my ethnic roots, and it was interesting because we were all professionals.
I never realized that I would practice [as a lawyer]. I went into English literature because I could read and read and read. When I graduated from USC, I didn't want to teach. I had an urge to learn about the law, especially U.S. constitutional law. It was an intellectual curiosity. But once you go through law school and prepare for the bar, ... I thought, I better do something with this.
I worked for two small law firms before I opened a solo practice. My office was right down the street in the One Central Bank building [in Glendale]. I loved that time.
By then, there were more Armenians in Los Angeles. Through our church, I took an Armenian language class, because I thought it would be an asset in order to have Armenian clients. I went two or three nights a week for a year. It helped tremendously.
My practice changed from a civil to an immigration practice because there were so many immigrants who needed advice.
My husband is Armenian; he grew up in Beirut. We met on a Sunday. By Wednesday, I knew I liked him. By Sunday, he proposed. It seems like maybe it was fast, but I felt like I knew him because of his Armenian background, and it has lasted 25 years.
I married old for the Armenian community. I was 31; I had my own practice. I met my husband when he had a week stopover on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Park City, Utah, for a ski trip. He stopped here because he had friends here. His sister is married to my cousin's other cousin, or brother-in-law - oh, it seems like all Armenians are related. So my sister-in-law's husband is my cousin.
I think my parents were shocked when I told them I would marry an Armenian. But they were very happy. I think my father wanted me to marry into the Armenian community, but my mother was more practical. She saw there were no Armenian men around when I was growing up.
They were ecstatic when the children were born. They were always very encouraging. They supported me all through law school. There was never a negative word in our house. My mother basically raised my children. She had a preschool business, so my children went there. That sure helped because my mind was free and clear so I could do my work.
I can't say enough about my parents, because, without them, I am sure I wouldn't be where I am.
We were raised in the American dream, that you have to immerse yourself in that American culture and make something of yourself. And then, if you can bring it back to your ethnic community, then its even more beneficial.
In 1989, a younger group of attorneys founded the Armenian Bar Association. They are one of the most wonderful organizations I have been a part of. It had a more formal organizational structure [than the Armenian lawyers' association]. They have members nationwide and even in Armenia: a former governor, a former state Supreme court justices, federal judges. It made me very, very proud to be an Armenian, because of what they have accomplished.
After my kids graduated and I had more time, I thought, I'll get more involved in the organization. They were very nice, and they appointed me executive director.
The group made a trip to Armenia in 2001. Ever since I became executive director in 2004, I had hoped they would plan another trip. So it was time to go back. I am planning to go to Armenia this year in September. We will go to Yerevan and meet with Armenian Supreme Court justices. We'll visit the courthouse named after Justice Armand Arabian. We will go to the museum where the original laws of Armenia were written. Its very exciting.
My son has a deep passion about being Armenian. He made a documentary film in high school about the Armenian genocide. He might have gotten some of his passion from my husband.
[While I was growing up], the genocide came up when we discussed our heritage. It was always there. But because my father had heard so many horrific stories, he didn't want to dwell on it.
It's a miracle that I remained in the Armenian community. How did that happen? Not intentionally. I was swept up in history, in the waves of new immigrants. What happened in [those] parts of the world changed my life. And look where I am.