1915 - 1930: SERVING A GENERATION OF REFUGEES

Cleveland H. Dodge, NER Treasurer, 1915 - 1927

"Be it RESOLVED that this committee does hereby authorize the organization of a department of industrial relief for the purpose of supplying thread, needles, cloth, tools and other raw material or instruments whereby these exiles can be employed during the winter months and made as nearly as practical self-supporting."

American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, from a resolution adopted 2 June 1919

Left: Child actor Jackie Coogan and the Boy Scouts cooperated in filling a NER "Million Dollar Milk Ship," August, 1924. The admission price to any Jackie Coogan movie was a can of milk

Bottom: The first NER health wagon, Caucasus, 1918

Despite the scope of its work, the committee continued during this early period to function in a fairly informal manner. None of the money so desperately needed abroad was used to promote the fundraising campaigns; members of the Committee served as volunteers and covered all administrative costs; and publicity for the cause of relief in the Near East was generated by events as they unfolded in the region.

After the Armistice, the Committee saw the magnitude of the problem as so great, and the momentum to help so strong, that the effort was expanded and organized on a more permanent basis. In 1919, the Committee was chartered by an act of congress as Near East Relief and designated as the primary channel for U.S. postwar aid in the region.

The new organization immediately launched a campaign to raise thirty million dollars to continue assistance for refugees unable to return to their homes. "Hunger Knows No Armistice" became the rallying cry for this campaign. Each town and city in the United States was asked to contribute an amount based on its population; by 1921, less than two years after its inception, the thirty-million dollar goal was reached.

Much more than money was involved in the work of Near East Relief. Hundreds of American doctors, nurses and social workers were recruited to staff clinics, schools, and shelters throughout the Near East. Tons of clothing were collected in NER's New York warehouse and shipped to overseas. This direct relief soon gave way to "relief through giving work," and the idea of training people for a better life was born. Orphans and refugee women made embroideries and rugs which were sold all over the United States; all proceeds went to NER's overseas work. Orphanage workshops produced most of the clothing for the orphans. Hundreds of thousands of boys and girls - orphans or separated from their families-were housed, fed and taught practical skills by a corps of dedicated to teachers. As they completed training and reached the age of sixteen, these young people were placed in jobs, and large - scale "matching" programs were organized to attempt to reunite them with the remnants of their families. More than a million displaced adults were also taught skills to help them adapt to their new lives.


		John H. Finley, NER Board Member and Publisher of the New York Times presenting President Calvin Coolidge with an oriental rug made by NER orphans, 1925
Harrowing a field in NER's agricultural development program, Caucasus, 1921

In an outpouring of generosity unprecedented in the annals of private philanthropy, ordinary people in the United States reached out to help the victims of war and persecution in the Near East. In homes, schools, churches, and clubs across the United States, millions of Americans responded to the plea to " remember the starving Armenians."

For its role in giving these people a chance to live useful lives, NER has been credited with saving a whole generation of Armenians.