“Légion Arménienne: The Armenian Legion and Its Heroism in the Middle East,” a traveling exhibit developed and prepared by the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA), will open at the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Alfred Berkowitz Gallery on Feb. 26. ALMA trustee Dr. Barbara Merguerian will mark the exhibit’s opening with a special presentation titled “A Struggle for Justice in the Middle East: The Story of the Armenian Legion in World War I” at 6 p.m. A free reception will follow.
The exhibit explores the formation, training, military action, and postwar activities of this all-volunteer force from World War I through photographs and narratives. Merguerian’s presentation will place the story of the Armenian Legion within the context of the larger political, military, and economic forces at work in shaping the modern Middle East. As the Armenian Legionnaires joined victorious Allied troops in occupying Armenian centers in Cilicia (southern Turkey) following World War I, Great Power diplomats were working furiously in European capitals to conclude peace treaties. Shock waves unleashed by World War I, including revolution in Russia, civil war in Turkey, weariness of the Great Powers, and isolationism in the United States, all combined to deprive Armenians of their goal of achieving national autonomy or independence. The presentation will consider the lessons to be learned from this struggle of a small nation to achieve freedom and self-determination.
Visitors can see the exhibit, free of charge, through March 28. The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is located on the 3rd floor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Mardigian Library, 4901 Evergreen Rd. in Dearborn, Mich.
ALMA commissioned this traveling exhibit in response to tremendous interest from the Armenian and veteran communities. The exhibit tells the story of the brave and selfless young men who fought with the Allies to victory, and later risked all in defense of Armenian human rights.
“Légion Arménienne” was curated by Ardemis Matteosian in close collaboration with ALMA Board Members Arakel Almasian and Merguerian. It premiered at Northbridge Town Hall in Whitinsville, Mass. in September, and has also been exhibited at the California State University in Fresno and the Pasadena Central Library in California.
The traveling exhibit was made possible by a grant from K. George and Carolann S. Najarian, M.D. Foundation with additional support provided by the Armenian-American Veterans of Milford, Mass., Inc.
The exhibit’s display at the Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is a special project of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Center for Armenian Research and Publication. Supplemental materials have been provided by University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters College-Wide Programs in Arab American Studies
For more information, contact ALMA by calling (617) 926-2562, emailing gamavor@almainc.org, or visiting www.almainc.org.
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