29/09/2026
The Near East Foundation (NEF) still exists and is an American international social and economic development organization based in Syracuse, New York. After a number of name changes it became the Near East Relief in August 1919. In 1930 as the relief work diminished and development work expanded, the organization reorganized as the Near East Foundation. This album covers the period 1919-1923 when some of the most life-saving work was done.
The earlier organizations began in response to US Ambassador in Constantinople Henry Morgenthau Sr.’s 1915 reports of governmental atrocities against Ottoman Armenians. Morgenthau referenced the deportations of intellectuals and requested urgent and immediate assistance. The committee raised $60,000 for direct relief at its first meeting on September 16, 1915. The money was wired to Ambassador Morgenthau for distribution by William Summerill Vanneman, the chairman of the committee in Tabriz, then part of Russia. The philanthropist Cleveland H. Dodge personally financed the committee’s operating expenses in order to ensure that all funds went to direct relief. The committee then embarked upon an unprecedented grassroots campaign to raise money and awareness across the United States. The campaign combined striking imagery, passionate celebrity spokespeople, and captivating stories from the field to inspire Americans from all economic backgrounds to become citizen philanthropists. The organization briefly used the name American Committee for Relief in the Near East in 1918–1919 as seen on many of the committee’s iconic posters. In August 1919, the committee received a congressional charter (the second humanitarian organization to receive this recognition, after the American Red Cross) and was renamed Near East Relief. From 1915 to 1930, Near East Relief saved the lives of over a million refugees, including 132,000 orphans who were cared for and educated in Near East Relief orphanages. Near East Relief mobilized the American people to raise over $116 million (equivalent to around $2.2 billion today) for direct relief. Nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens volunteered to travel overseas. Near East Relief workers built hundreds of orphanages, vocational schools, and food distributions centres. Overseas relief workers were responsible for the direct care of orphans and refugees, including the organization of vast feeding and educational programs. Thousands of Americans volunteered throughout the U.S. by donating money or supplies and hosting special events to benefit Near East Relief's work.
The relief effort that launched the organization in 1915 was the first broad national appeal of its kind to solicit funds from the American public, and it was unique in its use of media outlets and support from celebrity spokespeople and citizen volunteers alike. This effort grew and gave birth to what is now known as ‘citizen philanthropy’ - appealing directly to the public to support humanitarian work overseas. This model of philanthropy is used today by a majority of non-profit organizations around the world.
This was America’s finest hour in so many ways, caring for communities facing extinction to which they had no cultural or historical ties to, but a sense of humanity and altruism moved the whole nation and today millions of descendants are alive around the world thanks to that unconditional generosity. And then there were the hundreds working on the ground, to facilitate this network of benevolence, from all communities and in the core were Americans including both consular staff and civilians, this slice in particular, little studied, little recognised today. How the world and how the US Government has apparently changed over time when viewing our turbulent world today...
This gallery is a homage to those countless ordinary Americans who volunteered their services regardless of costs and potential dangers involved.
https://www.levantineheritage.com/near-east-relief-constantinople.html
