1915 - 1930: SERVING A GENERATION OF REFUGEES

"Give Or We Perish" Campaign for $30,000,000 1918 poster

"In view of the urgent need I call again upon the people of the United States to make such further contributions as they feel disposed, in their sympathy and generosity for the aid of these suffering peoples. Contributions may be made through the American Red Cross, Washington, D.C. or direct to the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, Cleveland H.Dodge, Treasurer, One Madison Avenue, New York City."

Woodrow Wilson, from
"An Appeal to the American People,"
29 October,1917.

The Near East Foundation has its roots in the first large-scale refugee crisis of the twentieth century. In 1915, as the outbreak of the World War I caused violent upheavals in the Ottoman Empire, countless numbers of Armenians, Greeks and other minorities in the Near East were forced from their homes and were dying from hunger, disease, and exposure. In early September, responding to a plea from U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, a group of distinguished American met in New York City and quickly agreed that urgent relief measures were needed to help these innocent victims survive the coming winter in the Anatolian countryside. Convened by Cleveland H. Dodge, this original committee included such people as James L. Barton, Charles Carne, Stephen Wise, and Samuel Dutton, who among them had decades of experience in the Middle East and a deep concern for the people of the region.

The Executive Committee at the Near East Relief Offices at One Madison Avenue, New York City, 1919. From left, seated: Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Cleveland H. Dodge, James L. Barton, Samuel T. Dutton. From left, standing: Alexander J. Hemphill, Harold A. Hatch, Stanley White, William W. Peet, Edwin M. Buckley, Charles V. Vickrey

Within a month, the committee met its initial pledge of $100.000. and the funds were forwarded to Ambassador Morgenthau to feed , shelter and clothe the refugees. Even as this effort got underway, it became clear that the problem was of devastating proportions and demanded a longer-term commitment.

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Telegram sent by Ambassador Morgenthau on September 3, 1915, requesting that a committee be formed to "save some of the Armenians"

Taking up this challenge, the original group, organized as the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, continued to raise funds for the refugees - collecting and distributing over twenty- five million dollars during the war years. Hundreds of thousands of refugees were fed, clothed, housed, and cared for in camps in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, the Caucasus, and Persia. Although the original appeal for relief came on behalf of the Christian minorities, help was given to all suffering people on the basis of " need, not creed."