BOSTON, Mass.—The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) on Newbury St. in Boston has offered to be the repository for Armenian genealogical history—that is, to accept materials (family trees, letters, oral histories) from the Armenian community in New England relating to family history and genealogy.
Founded in 1845, the NEHGS is the country’s founding genealogical organization and a leading national resource for family history research. NEHGS offers access to unique content, publications, research materials, expert staff, and vast collections of rare artifacts and primary documents. The NEHGS website (www.AmericanAncestors.org) includes several searchable databases of Armenian births, marriages, and deaths in Massachusetts between 1880 and 1915. These useful databases were compiled by William A. Brown, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel and to Thailand, and are available for free on the NEHGS website.
NEHGS is hoping that New England Armenian-American genealogical materials will soon be added to its impressive collections of New England Irish-American materials, New England African-American materials, and New England Jewish-American materials.
The Armenian community of New England is an early immigrant community in North America. The first Armenians to settle in New England came in the early 1800’s to pursue religious education in American universities. These Armenians had been converted to Protestantism by American missionaries from Boston operating in historic Armenia.
The next wave of immigration occurred after the 1895 massacres of Armenians in Turkey, and those who survived the Armenian Genocide (1915-23) arrived on these shores in the 1920’s. Armenians were attracted to New England because of the employment opportunities provided them by the textile factories of Worcester and the Hood Rubber Factory in Watertown. Since the establishment of those first communities, Armenians have taken pride in contributing to their local communities and over the years have become an integral part of the multi-cultural fabric of American society.
Donations of family history documents are the basis of NEHGS’s collection of more than 28 million items—the largest collection of original family history research materials in the nation. NEHGS encourages donations of materials from members and non-members alike.
Consider the NEHGS to ensure that your family’s documents are preserved for future generations. For information on donating materials, contact NEHGS archivist Judy Lucey by e-mailing jlucey@nehgs.org or calling (617) 226-1223, or visit www.AmericanAncestors.org under “Library and Special Collections” or “Support.”
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I have many letters written in Armenian that were sent to my grandfather Mardiros Krikor Vorperian around the turn of the 20th century. They were translated by formerly local minister. The information contained is innocuous and newsy. I often wondered if this was in order to protect the senders. I also have an original letter from the U.S. State department in which a claim for land restitution was denied by the Turks because my grandfather had become a citizen. He died when I was only 4 years old so I have little information available. My grandmother was English and never learned The Armenian language. I am very interested in your project.
This sounds like a worthy project. Don’t forget that Armenians also worked in mills and factories in the Merrimack Valley – from Lowell to Lawrence – in MA, as well as in Portland, Maine.
FYI: When I did my family genealogy a few years ago, I did not find them helpful to me! They wanted information from me, not the reverse. (I was not a “member” of NEHGS.) Please don’t forget the Armenian archives: “Project Save” located in ALMA Museum Building, Watertown. MA.