Archives

Shelter In Beirut

A photograph of a Near East Relief shelter’s exterior design and architecture.

Wedding of Elsa Reckman and Stanley Kerr, Beirut, 1922

Relief workers Elsa Reckman and Stanley Kerr met while working in Marash. They worked together to evacuate thousands of children from Cilicia to Syria. The couple was married at the Near East Relief personnel house in Beirut in 1922. Photo courtesy of Doug Kerr.

L-R: Roy King, unknown man, unknown child (possibly Zadi Gannaway), Stanley Kerr, Elsa Reckman Kerr, Marion Kerr King (Stanley’s sister), unknown woman. 

Older girl sewing

An older girl sewing, probably in Beirut. Near East Relief worker Nellie Miller was captivated by the Armenian refugee population in Beirut and the surrounding area.

Young boy in a fez

A young boy in traditional costume, including a fez, probably Beirut.

View of the Beirut personnel house

The Near East Relief personnel house in Beirut, c. 1923. The personnel house served as a temporary home for Near East Relief administrative workers at the Beirut office. It also offered temporary accommodations to visitors from other Near East Relief offices. Near East Relief volunteer Nellie Miller Mann lived in the personnel house in the early 1920s.

Mother carrying a child on her back

Mother carrying a child in the traditional Armenian manner. Nellie Miller’s original caption reads: “A mother carrying a sick child.  Months of hardship reduced these folks to beggars.”

Refugee camp in Beirut

Nellie Miller’s original caption simply states “Beirut.” Armenian refugees formed communities in Beirut, with the largest in the Bourj Hammoud district.

Refugee camp in Beirut

Nellie Miller’s original caption reads: “Many tents were furnished by the French Government. This shows close up of day in the camp household.”

Orphan toymaker in Beirut, 1922

The original caption from the New Near East magazine identifies this little boy as an amateur toymaker in Beirut. Toys were in very short supply in the orphanages, despite donations from American children. The orphans turned to their creativity, making toys from sticks, metal scraps, and cloth.

Refugee woman with baby in a makeshift cradle, 1922

Refugee woman with a baby in a makeshift cradle. The original caption in the New Near East magazine identified the woman as an Armenian evacuee from the Cilicia region of south-central Anatolia. The portion of the Armenian population that was able to return to Cilicia after the 1915 deportations faced a new crisis when the Turkish Nationalist army took over Cilicia in the early 1920s. Most of the refugees fled to Syria.

Child refugees in Beirut, 1923

Child refugees arriving in Beirut, 1923. Near East Relief area director H.B. McAfee often wrote about the vast numbers of refugees — especially children — arriving in Beirut, especially after Near East Relief was forced to cease operations in Central Anatolia.

Wedding of Near East Relief workers in Beirut

Wedding of Near East Relief workers in Beirut. Rev. Joseph Beach and Rev. James E. Nicol officiated the double wedding ceremony of Marion Kerr to Roy King and Ann Frances Sproule to Alfred Bastress. Kerr, King, and Sproule were Near East Relief workers.
Marion Kerr recorded the names of the attendees on the back of the photograph (L-R):
Miss Inez Webster, Mrs. Arthur Bacon, Mrs. Charles Fowle, Mr. Arthur Bacon, Belle Dorman, Daisy Humphrey, Mrs. Elsa Kerr, Helen Clark (partly hidden), Mrs. Gannaway, Stanley E. Kerr (Marion’s brother), Carol McAfee (partly hidden), Mary Francis Bacon, Mrs. F. Hoskins, and Rev. James E. Nicol. Azadouhi (Zadi) Gannaway, a former NER orphan, was the flower girl.
Image courtesy of Ellery Flynn.

Boys in striped shirts

Boys in striped shirts performing exercises in an orphanage courtyard while a man in a fez looks on. A slip of paper in the envelope with the original glass plate negative identifies the scene as “Gregorian Boys School Beirut.” The date is unknown.

Beirut medical staff with refugee women and babies

The medical staff from Near East Relief’s Beirut office with refugee women and babies from the local refugee community. The tall man in the dark suit is Dr. Khosrov Krikorian. The young woman in white next to him is nurse Lousaper Kussajukian.

Children at a Near East Relief garage

Near East Relief orphans originally from Aintab waiting at a garage in Beirut. According to Nellie Miller’s original notes, the children are preparing to leave for the orphanage at Ghazir, Syria.

New Near East, July 1923: Mealtime at Zouk Orphanage

Some magazine covers focused on specific relief stations. This New Near East magazine features children at Zouk Orphanage in Beirut. Maria Jacbosen ran Zouk Orphanage before opening the Birds’ Nest in Sidon in 1923.

Near East Relief medical staff, Beirut

Near East Relief medical staff in Beirut, 1927. The original caption reads “Beirut. To: Mr. C. Fowle, Director. For remberance from all members of his medical staff.”
Front row: Mesag (last name unknown), unknown man, Mr. Derhouie
Second row: Elizabeth Bender Kunzler, Jakob Kunzler, unknown man and woman, Dr. Khosrov Krikorian, Dr. Wilson Dodd, unknown woman and man, general practitioner Dr. Bedir, Mrs. Persape Bedir, unknown woman.
Third row: The woman in plaid is nurse Sarab Der-Bedrossian. The young woman just right of center (behind the woman with glasses) is Lousaper Kussajikian Sarmanian. Sima Artinian and pharmacist Haig Artinian are at the far right.
Fourth row: dentist Dr. Serabian is at the far right.

Special thanks to Joann Janjigian and Cathy Salibian for assistance with identifying the people in this picture. 

Children in front of the Birds’ Nest Orphanage

Children in front of the Birds’ Nest Orphanage, a former palace. Nellie Miller’s original caption reads: “400 little girls gathered in front of this “Paradise” home. The gate to the garden shows on the right not every orphanage was a palace.”

 

Orphan and doctor

Children received regular – sometimes daily – health examinations.