Branford Review, CT
March 1 2005
Student brings Armenian heritage to light
By: John Rook, Staff Writer03/01/2005
BRANFORD – At the beginning of every year, Branford High School holds
its annual “parade of nations,” a celebration of the different ethnic
backgrounds of each student in the school. One by one, the flags of
various nations are brought before the student body, later to be
displayed in the student cafeteria for all to see. It is a way,
officials claim, to encourage students to embrace cultural diversity
and to explore their own heritage.
But every year, for four years, when the flags have been paraded by,
one student has felt a little left out. Senior Charlotte Coulter, 18,
has watched as each flag, with their brilliant colors and unique
symbols, has been hung in the cafeteria with honor and pride. All the
flags of her peers. All the flags, except hers.
Coulter’s ethnic background is Armenian, less common among her
classmates than, say, Irish heritage, and thus lost in the litany of
nations represented in the display. For four years, Coulter has dealt
with that omission. This year, however, the senior decided to do
something about it.
On Feb.18, Coulter added her family’s flag to the school display as
the senior presented the school with the Armenian flag, to be hung
along side the other symbols of her classmates heritage. The flag
presentation was a part of Coulter’s senior exhibit, where Coulter
focused on Armenian history and how it has been covered by the world
media over the years.
“I wanted to explore my own heritage and educate other people about
it,” said Coulter. “I knew something about my background, but I
really wanted to focus on something specific and see how that
information has evolved.”
BHS history teacher James Patella, who has worked with Coulter in
Model Congress, applauded her for her dedication in bringing to light
a little known culture that is rarely studied by most students.
“She is one of our best,” said Patella. “She approached this like she
does everything else. She is just one of the most genuine, good
people you will meet.”
Assistant Principle David Maloney also praised Coulter and her
presentation. Maloney, who organizes the parade each year, stated
that the event had become an emotional one for many students, who
could be found crying when their flag passed by.
“We are absolutely thrilled. She chose to research this and she did a
remarkable job. This display is a symbolic representation of all the
ethnic backgrounds of the High School community. We don’t want the
students to give up their heritage when they come through the doors,
we want them to embrace it,” said Maloney.
Specifically, Coulter focused on the media coverage of the Armenian
genocide of 1915. On April 24, 1915, commemorated worldwide by
Armenians as Genocide Memorial Day, hundreds of Armenian leaders were
murdered in Istanbul after being summoned and gathered by the “Young
Turks” government, hell bent on extinguishing the Armenian race.
Thousands of Armenians were raped, starved, dehydrated, murdered and
kidnapped along “death marches,” orchestrated by Turkish officials.
In total, more than 6,000 Armenians were killed.
What amazed the senior most, when researching the project, was how
little was now known about the tragedy that affected millions of
people.
“For my grandparents’ generation, this was common knowledge,” said
Coulter. “Everyone knew something about it because it received a lot
of coverage. Now, however, I was shocked to learn how few people know
about this time in history. I was amazed how much information had
been lost over the years.”
That, for Coulter, made researching, and eventually presenting her
findings to her classmates all the more important. It proved to the
senior that much of history could not be found in history text books,
but rather could be uncovered by hard work.
Though Coulter will not have the opportunity to see her flag paraded
before the school at the beginning of next year, she will see it
displayed everyday in the cafeteria. That, in itself, was worth the
project
“Just to know that it is up there, hanging up there, is a nice
feeling,” said Coulter. “I feel a lot of pride when I think about that.”
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