Lori Charshafjian plays with her American firetruck toy at her grandparent’s house while celebrating Easter on Sunday, April 1, 2018, in Glendale, Calif. Lori is a second-generation Armenian-American born in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles is home to the largest concentration of ethnic Armenians outside of Armenian. Like many Armenian-Americans, Lori’s parents send her to a private Armenian school in an effort to give her an Armenian centric upbringing.

During the month of April, many Armenians in Glendale, California elect to adorn their cars with the Armenian flag. April 24th marks the day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915 during which over a million Armenians were murdered by the Ottoman Empire.

Azadour, an Iranian-Armenian immigrant, regularly visits Fremont Park in Glendale, California. The ethnic Armenian population of Glendale is only a few generations old, with the majority of the older individuals being the first-generation that immigrated to the US. The majority immigrated from Iran, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Russia.

A group of Armenian Americans play backgammon at Fremont Park. Over the years, the park has served as a gathering space for many old Armenian men to play games, barbecue, and spend the afternoon together.

St Peter Armenian Church is one of the many Armenian Apostolic Churches in Glendale and the larger Los Angeles Area. Armenia became the first country to establish Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD. Like many diaspora communities, Armenian-Americans established Churches as one of the vessels through which a connection to their ethnic heritage is kept and passed on to younger generations.

Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 6th. It’s tradition to go to church for an hours-long service which culminates in the Bishop and Priests hold a procession during which visitors are allowed to kiss a cross for a blessing.

Members of the Charshafjian, Hallajian, and Tavitian families reach for hand made Sarma during Easter dinner. Food is one of the main parts of diaspora communities that serve as vessels for sharing of culture. The Sarma are made of spices meat and rice wrapped in pickled grape leaves and cooked for hours.

A group of women hold hands at the front of a protest made up of thousands of Armenian-Americans from all over southern California on April 24th, 2018. The group marched from the Little Armenia neighborhood in Hollywood to the Turkish consulate in Midtown. Each April 24th, millions of Armenians from all around the world march for recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 during which Ottoman Turks murdered over a million Armenians. Turkey has yet to recognize the events that took place over a century ago.

Violet Bohjalian and Linda Hagopian sing during a practice session for an Armenian American choir group in Los Angeles, California. Singing folk songs in choirs is just one of the many ways that Armenian Americans are able to preserve their cultural heritage.

The Armenian alphabet was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader. It’s common for Armenian households in Glendale to have some sort of artwork referencing the 38 letters.

Kevork Hallajian lays on his couch in his home in Los Angeles before having to go to his janitor shift at the hospital on Christmas Day 2017. Kevork was born in Aleppo, Syria and immigrated to the US in the early 90s just as thousands of Armenians from around the world had done. He and his wife, Maral, have raised a family of three daughters and one son who were all born in Syria and immigrated with him and his wife.

Zepyour Khachadoorian immigrated from Tehran, Iran to Glendale, California with her twin sister, mother, and father when she was six. She wasn’t able to go to a private Armenian school, like some Armenian-Americans of higher socioeconomic status. She went to public school and while she was taught Armenian by her parents and had Armenian-American friends at school, her experience is that of, as her hyphenated ethnic background suggests, influenced by her diverse surroundings.