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Zoryan Institute Congratulates the United States on Its 250th Anniversary and Honours America’s Humanitarian Legacy
10 Jul 2026
January 10, 1924 — Henry Morgenthau, the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913-1916, with Armenian Genocide orphans under the auspices of the American Near East Relief Committee, Greece; Source: AGMI
July 10, 2026: Following the recent celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America, the Zoryan Institute extends its warmest congratulations to the American people and expresses its sincere appreciation to its friends, members, and supporters across the United States.
As an institute dedicated to human rights, genocide, and diaspora studies, the Zoryan Institute believes this historic anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate not only America’s founding ideals but also one of its greatest humanitarian legacies.
During the Armenian Genocide and the destruction of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christian populations between 1915 and 1923, over 4 million were massacred, deported, or driven from their ancestral homeland. Reflecting on what he had seen in the aftermath, Ambassador Morgenthau remarked, “When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race.” At a time when much of the world remained silent, United States Ambassador Henry Morgenthau Sr. chose to bear witness. His reports preserved the historical record and awakened the conscience of the American people.
Ambassador Morgenthau wrote words that still resonate today:
“I beheld a most touching sight at meal time in this orphan camp. Twelve hundred boys were fed at once. Before the distributions of their simple meal of figs and bread, all joined in unison in outspoken prayer, the Greeks praying in the Greek tongue and the Armenians in the Armenian, after which all joined together in singing an American hymn. As the meal was served cold, it took less than minutes to clean up after the boys had eaten, and to prepare the tables ready with a fresh supply of figs and bread for the one thousand girls who followed the boys.”
Inspired by this call to conscience, Americans responded with extraordinary generosity. Through Near East Relief, they raised millions of dollars to establish orphanages, hospitals, schools, and refugee centers that saved the lives of countless Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian survivors, especially orphaned children.
One of those survivors was Aurora Mardiganian, whose memoir became the 1919 Hollywood film Auction of Souls, the first motion picture to bring the crime of genocide before international audiences while raising funds for Near East Relief. Decades later, Aurora recorded her testimony for the Zoryan Institute’s Armenian Genocide Oral History Collection. That interview became a principal historical source for the award-winning animated documentary Aurora’s Sunrise, directed by Inna Sahakyan and produced in cooperation with the Zoryan Institute.
Another survivor, Mariam Davis, was the first eyewitness interviewed for the Zoryan Institute’s Oral History Collection. Her testimony inspired the acclaimed PBS documentary An Armenian Journey, directed by Theodore Bogosian. As Bogosian acknowledged, “Without the Zoryan Institute’s Oral History Program, An Armenian Journey would not have had the same ring of truth, and might never have been broadcast.”
For more than forty years, the Zoryan Institute has preserved the voices of survivors, advanced genocide scholarship, and promoted universal human rights. The humanitarian example set by Ambassador Morgenthau and the American people, together with the testimonies entrusted to the Institute, remind us that truth and compassion are among humanity’s most enduring strengths.
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, we honour a nation whose citizens answered suffering with generosity and whose ambassador chose conscience over silence. At a time when civilians continue to suffer in conflicts around the world, this legacy reminds us that moral courage and humanitarian action remain as vital today as they were more than a century ago.
The Zoryan Institute extends its heartfelt congratulations to the United States and its deepest gratitude to the American people for a humanitarian legacy that continues to inspire generations.
Happy 250th Anniversary, United States of America.
