ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM OF AMERICA

From: Ilkcan Cokgor

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM OF AMERICA AND
NEAR EAST FOUNDATION ENTER INTO
COOPERATION AGREEMENT

New York City – The Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) and theNear East Foundation signed an agreement of cooperation on June 12 atthe Foundation’s international headquarters in New York City.

Signing the agreement on behalf of the two organizations were Van Z.Krikorian, AGMA Trustee and Building and Operations CommitteeChairman, and Shant Mardirossian, Near East Foundation Board Chairman.Also present at the signing were Near East Foundation PresidentAlexander Papachristou, Dr. Rouben Adalian, Director of the AGMA, andDr. Hayk Demoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institutein Yerevan, Armenia.

“This agreement opens a treasure trove of historical Armenian Genocideera documents and artifacts for use in the museum’s exhibits,”Krikorian said. “We are very pleased to be forging a partnership withthe Near East Foundation to educate the public on one of the mostsignificant periods of both Armenian and American history.”  TheArmenian Genocide Museum of America is slated to open in 2010 inWashington, DC.

“The archives of the Near East Foundation house thousands of documentswhich exemplify the first international humanitarian undertaking ofthis sort by the American people,” Mardirossian said. “Not only dothearchives tell us the stories of countless Armenian orphans, but theydeliver them through the journals, diaries, and writings of the NearEast Relief workers. This museum, in the heart of Washington, DC, willserve as a tribute to their heroic efforts.”

The Near East Foundation is the successor organization to the AmericanCommittee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, which was founded in 1915and later incorporated as Near East Relief in 1919 by an act ofCongress.  Near East Relief established and operated orphanages,hospitals, and schools throughout the Balkans, Caucasus, and the NearEast to ease the suffering of the Armenian Genocide survivors seekingrefuge from the Ottoman Empire.

“Near East Relief was at the forefront of America’s efforts to respondto the human suffering that occurred in the wake of the ArmenianGenocide,” Krikorian said. “Armenians in the United States and allover the world benefited directly or indirectly from this monumentalundertaking.”

According to Near East Foundation records, from 1915 to 1930 the NearEast Relief administered $117 million worth of assistance and iscredited with saving a million lives and providing vocational trainingto 132,000 Armenian orphan children.

“Millions of dollars were raised through appeals in the media, atpublic rallies, in churches and synagogues, and in schools,”Mardirossian said. “Not only were funds raised, but hundreds of NearEast Relief volunteers were on the ground ministering to the sufferingsurvivors of the Genocide, delivering food, clothing, and materials,but most of all comfort and hope. Many risked their lives and severalgave their lives for this noble cause. Their stories and memoriesshould be preserved as an example of the American spirit.”

This agreement with the Near East Foundation is the second cooperativeagreement AGMA has forged in recent months. In April, the museumentered into a partnership with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Instituteat the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan, Armenia.

The resources and expertise from the genocide museum in Armenia andthe valuable archival materials from Near East Relief will complementother artifacts and documents to be incorporated in the AGMA exhibits,which are being designed by the preeminent Washington, DC area firm ofGallagher & Associates.

The museum will be housed in the historic National Bank Building inWashington, DC, at 14th and G Streets, NW, just blocks from the WhiteHouse.  When completed, it will be the first international classmuseum in the Armenian Diaspora dedicated to preserving and honoringthe memory of the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide. From1915-1923 a centrally-planned, government-directed campaign subjectedthe Armenian population in Turkey to deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, starvation, and outright killings. An estimated1.5 million Armenians perished and tens of thousands became widowed,orphaned and homeless.

Today, the Near East Foundation operates development projects in sevencountries in the Middle East and Africa and is planning a project inArmenia. In 1930, the organization re-defined itself. It gave theschools, orphanages, hospitals, and other facilities that it hadfounded to the countries where it operated, and it became a pioneer inthe field of economic development. Current projects includeagricultural innovation to combat climate change in Mali and Egypt,reforming primary education to include girls in Morocco, and assistingIraqi refugees to support themselves in new communities in Syria andJordan. The 100-member field staff all work in their own countries, sothe Near East Foundation supports local professionalism while helpingthe region’s poorest people.

“We are proud to continue the tradition of American assistance tocommunities in peril in the Middle East and Africa,” said NEFPresident Papachristou. “We rely fully on the expertise and dedicationof our colleagues who know best how to organize these communities tosolve their own challenges.”

The agreement between the AGMA and the Near East Foundation alsoanticipates the promotion of each other’s programs and projects. Thelinks to the Web sites of the two organizations are www.neareast.org and www.armeniangenocidemuseum.org.

The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is an outgrowth of theArmenian Assembly of America and the Armenian National Institute(ANI), catalyzed by the initial pledge of Anoush Mathevosian towardbuilding such a museum in Washington.