WATERTOWN, Mass.— The Hairenik Association is proud to announce the naming of the Antranig and Alice Karjian Hairenik Media Center in loving memory and living tribute to the legacy of two enormously proud Armenians, who were pillars of their families and carried in their hearts the genetic memory of Dikranagerd and Marash.
“I am beyond thrilled that the new, state-of-the-art, Hairenik Media Center will carry the names of Antranig and Alice Karjian. Their commitment to the Hairenik is inspirational,” said George Aghjayan, chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Eastern Region Central Committee. “We, at the Hairenik, cherish the sacred trust the Karjians and others have placed in us to carry on the highest standards of our 120-plus year tradition and to continue to reach and inspire new generations of readers, listeners and viewers. We remain both humbled and honored by their generosity and vision.”
An initiative of the Armenian Cultural Association of America, Inc., the Antranig and Alice Karjian Hairenik Media Center is in the final phases of construction on the fourth floor of the historic Hairenik Building. The goal of the fully-equipped control room and studio will be to create consistent and engaging audio and video content and amplify the voice of the Armenian Diaspora through visual storytelling.
Alice Mouradian and Antranig Karjian were first-generation Armenians born to survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. Their parents had been born in Dikranagerd and in Marash, respectively.
They grew up with their parents’ acute loss of family members and the deeply rooted pain of witnessing the horrors of the Genocide through the deportation caravans to Syria. Over the years, the Mouradian and Karjian survivors migrated from Syria to Iraq where Alice and Antranig were born and raised. They attended Armenian schools and became passionate about Armenian language, literature and history.
Antranig and Alice met and were married in Iraq. They created a traditional Armenian family and raised four daughters. They immigrated to the United States in 1980 where they lived in Ridgefield, New Jersey and became members of the vibrant Armenian community of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church. The Karjians supported many organizations affiliated with the church. Alice was an active member of the ARS “Shakeh” Chapter, and Antranig was a member of the Senior Citizens Club.
Since 1981, the Karjians were longtime subscribers of the Hairenik and Armenian Weekly and would read the paper cover to cover. Back when the Hairenik was a daily, they would impatiently wait for its arrival and would call the office when there were delays. They saved almost every single edition of the paper, either because of the political relevance of an article, or because of the literary significance of an essay or a poem, and would discuss with their friends and family the importance of what they had read in their beloved Hairenik.
Their love for the Armenian language and culture was evident in the way they lived and in the many ways they taught their daughters and young grandchildren. In this way, they bequeathed us with safeguarding our language, heritage and culture.
Antranig passed away in June 2014 and Alice in April 2021.
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