Winning Hearts and Minds, One Person at a Time

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By Florence Avakian – on September 24, 2009

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. – Azadouhi (named freedom) was an emaciated infant
near death when she was rescued by the Near East Relief during the
Armenian Genocide. Five years later, she had blossomed into a robust,
intelligent, and playful child due to the dedicated care of this
benevolent organization.

Azadouhi was one of thousands of Armenian children rescued and cared
for by the Near East Relief, which today is the worldwide
philanthropic organization, the Near East Foundation (NEF). Currently,
it actively operates in eight countries, including Armenia, Jordan,
Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, and Syria.

On Sat., Sept. 12, the Near East Foundation hosted a gala reception at
the Rockefeller Archive Center in Sleepy Hollow to raise funds for its
large collection of archival material spanning 94 years of
philanthropic history. The collection includes documents, reports,
photos, negatives, and even clothing, flags, and lace doilies made by
the orphans. John D. Rockefeller was the first of many famous American
donors to the Near East Relief even before it was founded, having
supported Armenians during the 1896 Hamidian massacres.

The Rockefeller Archive Center, located in the Sleepy Hollow
Rockefeller estate surrounded by a bucolic and picturesque landscape,
includes some 60 million documents, half a million photos, and 2,000
films in 11 temperature-controlled vaults covering several
20th-century philanthropies, including those from the Near East
Foundation.

The gathering included representatives from Armenia Fund USA, Ararat
Import Export LLC, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Armenian Diocese
(Eastern), Armenian Prelacy (Eastern), Armenian General Benevolent
Union, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Assembly,
Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial, Armenian National Committee of
America, Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, St. Gregory the
Enlightener Armenian Church of White Plains, Tufenkian Foundation,
Rockefeller Archive Center, several board members of the Near East
Foundation, and its president, Alexander Papachristou.

World’s Leading Archives

Welcoming the more than 70 guests who had enjoyed a cocktail reception
with music by the Musica Bella Orchestra was James Allen Smith, the
vice president and director of research and education at the
Rockefeller Archive Center. He termed the Rockefeller collection as
the `leading archives in the world covering civil society and
philanthropy in the last 140 years.’ Annually, some 200 to 300
scholars do research in institutional memory and critical evaluation.

NEF chairman Shant Mardirossian called the day a `family reunion’ and
related that it marked the 94th anniversary of the NEF’s founding. He
paid special tribute to the many outstanding American families
associated with the Near East Relief, including the Rockefellers,
Dodges, Clevelands, Bartons, and Morgenthaus, among many others. He
pointed out that the AGBU inherited many of the Near East Relief
orphanages and schools throughout the Middle East, and revealed that
the current headquarters of the Catholicos of Cilicia sits on the site
of property donated to the church by the Near East Relief.

In one of the most touching segments, David Mann, the son of Nellie
Miller Mann, a Near East Relief worker in Beirut, and Martha Gurahian,
the daughter of Siranoush Davitian, a Near East Relief orphan in the
legendary Bird’s Nest Orphanage, both read excerpts from their
mothers’ letters and diaries, detailing heartfelt occurrences from the
daily lives of the orphans, who ranged in age from infancy to 17.

An Oasis in the Desert

These children had witnessed the horrors during the death marches, had
suffered from starvation, illness, trachoma, bleeding feet, poor
hygiene, and many other critical conditions, before arriving at the
Near East Relief orphanages. In a dramatic gesture, Gurahian held up a
grammar book her mother had saved from her days in the Bird’s Nest. `I
will always keep this treasured book,’ she said with obvious emotion.

Henry `Ben’ Morgenthau IV, the great grandson of U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey Henry Morgenthau, noted that he had grown up surrounded by
Armenian families. He related that Ambassador Morgenthau, `in public
life acted as an ambassador, but behind the scenes, confronted the
Turks continually, appealing to the State Department and the American
people to stop the atrocities.’

Due to the ambassador’s tireless efforts, the American Committee for
Syrian and Armenian Relief was formed – the precursor to the Near East
Relief. Ben Morgenthau reported that $117 million was raised, saving
the lives of 132,000 orphans. He also reported that the Morgenthau
family commemorates April 24th every year, and that when he visited
Armenia with his father and brother in 1999, he participated in
several events, including the dedication of the `Morgenthau School’ in
Yerevan, and placing soil from the grave of Ambassador Morgenthau in
the `Wall of Heroes.’

In his remarks, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans,
who like Ambassador Morgenthau displayed courage and integrity in his
position, emphasized the crucial need for preserving these historical
records. He revealed that the oldest archival and first fireproof
building in the western hemisphere is in Williamsburg, Va. He pointed
out that there has always been `an impulse to alter public records. In
the old days, they burned them. Now they shred them. Public records
are treasures of our democracy and human history. We should not leave
this task to governments.’

In spite of many archival records, the U.S. government still does not
recognize the genocide, he stated. `Archives are absolutely necessary
and important to understand our past, but they are not
sufficient. Join me in applauding the Rockefellers, the Dodges, the
Bartons, etc. These valuable records in the Rockefeller Center must be
preserved and safeguarded!’ he declared with emphasis.

During the event, written remarks by Carnegie Corporation president
Dr. Vartan Gregorian were read, and two films were shown, one by Zareh
Tjeknavorian, entitled, `Lest They Perish,’ paying tribute to the
founders of the Near East Relief, and another by the Near East
Foundation, depicting its current projects throughout the Middle East
and Africa. Mardirossian also gave a detailed presentation of the
NEF’s current micro-economic development project in rural Armenian
villages, which it is conducting in partnership with Armenia Fund USA.

The evening concluded with symbolic words from the film: `Our past is
a reflection of who we are today, winning hearts and minds…one
person at a time.’