Sirvert Tatoanian waits to enter Orphanage No. 7. Erivan, c. 1920.
Location
Erevan (Yerevan), Armenia
Year
c. 1920
Item Detail
Sirvert Tatoanian was one of hundreds of children waiting for a place at Near East Relief's Orphanage No. 7 at Erivan. In 1919 and 1920, Erivan was the center of the Armenian relief program, crowded with genocide survivors, refugees, and famine victims, and by early 1920 Near East Relief was caring for about 11,000 children in orphanages in the Erivan district alone.
Context
In 1919–1920, Erivan (present-day Yerevan) was the administrative and operational center of NER’s Armenian program, serving a population overwhelmed by genocide survivors, displaced refugees, and famine victims. By early 1920, NER was feeding an estimated 17,000 individuals daily in the city and caring for approximately 11,000 children in orphanages in the Erivan district alone (E. A. Yarrow, “Winter Relief in the Caucasus,” The New Near East, February 1920, pp. 3–6).
The American Relief Administration (ARA), operating under Colonel William N. Haskell as Allied High Commissioner, provided the supply pipeline and overall coordination; NER provided the institutional infrastructure. When Haskell transferred ARA-administered institutions to NER in August 1920, NER became the primary operator of orphanages, hospitals, and feeding stations across the republic. This album documents NER’s Erivan operations at that transitional moment.
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Album caption: "One of hundreds of children seen clamoring for admission to the Near East Relief Orphanage No. 7 at Erivan"
Bound album of 37 prints. Described in the Hoover finding aid as depicting “Near East Relief work in Erevan,” though album content spans the wider Caucasus operation, with images identifiably set in Erivan, Tiflis, and Alexandropol. The “Erevan” designation reflects the album’s filing rather than a precise geographic scope. Individual captions transcribed where legible from the original album pages.
