This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
Formerly part of the independent Missionary Research Library (MRL), these records were moved with the MRL to the Brown Memorial Tower of Union Theological Seminary in 1929, and accessioned by the Burke Library at the time of the MRL's closure in 1976.
This collection is organized in two unarranged series: Series 1: American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief; and Series 2: Near East Relief.
The American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief (ACASR) was established in 1915 at the urging of America's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, Sr. to respond to the Armenian Genocide. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire caused millions of Assyrians, Armenians, Greeks, and other minority groups to be displaced. Under the leadership of James L. Barton and Cleveland H. Dodge, the organization raised millions of dollars through public rallies, church collections, assistance from other charitable organizations and foundations. The funds were delivered through the American Embassy in Constantinople and distributed via missionaries and consuls. After World War One, the committee widened its scope of activities to include Russian Armenia, where hundreds of thousands had taken refuge, and in 1919 became incorporated through a charter granted by the United States Congress. At this time it was renamed "Near East Relief" Committee (NER) and its directors were William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, and Elihu Root. Between 1915 and 1930, NER administered $117,000,000 of assistance, in addition to delivering food, clothing, and materials for shelter, and setting up refugee camps, clinics, hospitals, orphanages, and centers for vocational training. NER is credited with having cared for 132,000 Armenian orphans scattered across the region and eventually spent over ten times of its initial estimate in reaching close to two million refugees. In 1930, NER was renamed the "Near East Foundation" (NEF) to reflect a shift in emphasis away from relief work to more sustained, long term development-oriented involvement in the region. At this time it was directed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Allen Dulles. It became the primary U.S. relief agency for the near east region, and later served as the model for President Truman's Four-Point Program, USAID, and the Peace Corps. As of 2012, NEF still operates in seven countries in Africa and the Middle East with a focus on empowering local communities to become agents of their own development.
William Walker Rockwell was a Congregationalist minister who was associate professor of church history and librarian of Union Theological Seminary from 1905 to 1942. Rockwell was an active member of Near East Relief who collected materials on behalf of the organization in addition to composing several pamphlets to help gather public support for its cause. Rockwell's material comprises the earliest records in the collection. Talcott Williams was the first director of the Columbia University Pulitzer School of Journalism. Williams was born in Turkey, the son of Congregational missionaries. Williams' father helped to establish Roberts College in Istanbul and the American College in Beirut.
Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL2, Near/Middle East
Item description, MRL2: Near East Relief Committee records, 1904-1950, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
In 2009, student Rachel Long processed a portion of the Executive Committee minutes, which had been discovered as a small unprocessed collection. The majority of the current papers were combined after selection from the large group of unprocessed Mission Research Library archives. Order was imposed with an attempt to keep together materials collected by specific individuals in a chronological order, in order to show the growth and expansion of the organization. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Acidic items were separated from one another by interleaving with acid-free paper as needed. Any items in an advanced state of deterioration were placed in Mylar envelopes. Photocopies of fragile newspaper clippings have been produced. The finding aid was created by Brigette C. Kamsler, Kristen Leigh Southworth, and Amy Meverden in 2013 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2024.
Near East Foundation records, 1915-2005. The Rockefeller Archive Center.
MRL2: American Constantinople Relief Committee Records, 1912-1914, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
MRL 2: Mary Lewis [Mrs. W. A.] Shedd papers, 1918, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
This collection contains, in Series 1, correspondence, notes, articles, pamphlets, reports and source files largely collected by William Walker Rockwell and related to the beginning of the organization and the specific needs and conditions of Armenia and Syria. The correspondence documents the experiences of those in war-torn areas and the need for aid. Some documents contain copies of other material not directly related to the ACASR, such as other committees with related goals. Rockwell's materials also include his own writings, such as for the pamphlet, The Pitiful Plight of the Assyrian Christians, 1916. The remainder of the series offers source files, also collected by Rockwell, on ACASR work and what other organizations, such as the Federal Council of Churches and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, were doing to help. Series 2 contains records (largely collected by Talcott Williams) which show the expanded mission of the organization, including bulletins, cablegrams and other correspondence, newspaper clippings, press releases and fundraising materials, Executive Committee dockets, and minutes from other committees as well as reports on topics such as education in orphanages and religious education. Notable members of the organization, such as Cleveland Dodge and Charles Vernon Vickrey, Executive Secretary of Near East Relief, are represented, as is the plight of many displaced groups, such as Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians. These records show aid extended to Armenia, Syria, Persia, Beirut, Greece and other locations in Asia Minor. The series concludes with information from the Golden Rule Society, also collected and owned by Williams.
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains correspondence, notes, articles, pamphlets, reports and source files related to the beginning of the organization and the specific needs and conditions of Armenia and Syria. The correspondence documents the experiences of those in war-torn areas and the need for aid. The bulk of William Walker Rockwell's extensive correspondence is from 1911-1917. The letters go into detail regarding conditions in Armenia, such as deportations and poor treatment of individuals. Correspondence is from individuals and locations throughout the world, such as Germany and Switzerland. Rockwell also wrote to Ambassadors Henry Morgenthau and Abram I. Elkus, US Ambassadors to Turkey. Many of the documents contain copies of other material not directly related to the ACASR, such as other committees with related goals. Rockwell's materials also include his own writings, such as for the pamphlet, The Pitiful Plight of the Assyrian Christians, 1916. The remainder of the series offers source files, also collected by Rockwell, on ACASR work and what other organizations, such as the Federal Council of Churches and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, were doing to help.
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains records (largely collected by Talcott Williams) which show the expanded mission of the organization, including bulletins, cablegrams and other correspondence, newspaper clippings, press releases and fundraising materials, Executive Committee dockets, and minutes from other committees as well as reports on topics such as education in orphanages and religious education. Notable members of the organization, such as Cleveland Dodge and Charles Vernon Vickrey, Executive Secretary of Near East Relief, are represented, as is the plight of many displaced groups, such as Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians. These records show aid extended to Armenia, Syria, Persia, Beirut, Greece and other locations in Asia Minor. The series concludes with information from the Golden Rule Society, also collected and owned by Williams.