One of these children is Xanthula. Syra, c. 1926-1928.

Location

Syra (Syros), Greece

Year

1926–1928

Item Detail

Granges across the United States took up the support of Near East Relief orphans on Syra, and the Midgleys chose the children. The second compilation leaf. The typed heading says one of the children in the top two photographs is Xanthula, taken by Worcester Central Pomona Grange. The lower photograph shows a man at a bench with a crowd of boys and a donkey. The April 1928 National Grange Monthly at leaf 055 gives her as Xanthoula Nicolaou Kediki, born at Sinassos in 1920 and lately admitted, her father killed and her mother lost.

Context

Fred Midgley (1865–1939) was born in England and brought to Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1869 at the age of four. He and Carrie A. Midgley, formerly Carrie A. Bancroft, ran a market garden in the city and were long active in the Grange. Near East Relief wanted an American market gardener to take charge of the farm work at its orphanage on the island of Syra, and Fred Midgley signed a two-year agreement in August 1926. The couple sailed that September and served on the island until 1928, he directing the agricultural work and she assisting him. Near East Relief's own history of the period calls Syra the last of its orphanage centers, the others having closed as children were placed out.

This album page is one of a group from Volume I of the two scrapbook albums the family kept, covering the Midgleys' appointment and outward voyage, the island and the orphanage farm, and the Grange campaign that sponsored children there. Their granddaughter Nancy Winter Taylor gave both volumes to the Near East Foundation. They are held in the Near East Foundation records at the Rockefeller Archive Center, Accession 2012:071, RG 6, finding aid FA 1309.

View in the Digital Archive

  • Holding Institution

    Rockefeller Archive Center

  • External Link
    https://dimes.rockarch.org/collections/7cMpMmcqYKq9Wte7ayDUAo

  • Attribution

    Rockefeller Archive Center. Near East Foundation Records, Fred and Carrie Midgley Papers (Accession 2012:071, RG 6)

  • Rights

    No known copyright restrictions. Based on available information, NERHS is not aware of copyright restrictions on this material. Items are presented for non-commercial research and educational use. Users are responsible for determining rights status and compliance with applicable law. If you believe you hold rights in this material or have information about rights holders not currently reflected, please contact [email protected].

  • Notes

    Typed heading: "ISLAND OF SYRA, GREECE - 1926-1928 / FRED & CARRIE MIDGLEY / ASSORTED PICTURES"

    Typed: "TOP 2 PICTURES - ONE OF THESE CHILDREN IS XANTHULA, / SPONSORED BY WORCESTER, MA CENTRAL POMONA GRANGE"

    Additional locations: Worcester.

    Sources for the Item Detail

    • NER, Report to Congress for 1925, p. 47 ("Among the co-operating agricultural organizations are the National Grange, Farm Bureau Federation, Dairymen's League, Association of Operative Millers."). Near East Relief, Report to Congress for 1925, 1926, p. 47: https://archive.org/details/neareastreliefre0000vari_f9n5/page/47/mode/1up

    About this group

    Fred and Carrie Midgley Papers, Near East Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center, Accession 2012:071, RG 6, finding aid FA 1309. Gift of Nancy Winter Taylor, the Midgleys' granddaughter.

    Sources for the Context:

    • Barton, p. 450 ("Midgley, Frederick"). Barton, Story of Near East Relief (1930), "Overseas Personnel," p. 450: https://archive.org/details/storyofneareastr00bart_0/page/n540/mode/1up

    • Barton, p. 163 ("Syra was the last orphanage center. All the other institutions were closed as rapidly as children could be outplaced. In Greece it was always called the American school and was seldom referred to as an orphanage."). James L. Barton, Story of Near East Relief (1915-1930) (Macmillan, 1930), p. 163: https://archive.org/details/storyofneareastr00bart_0/page/163/mode/1up

    • Worcester Historical Museum, Midgley Family Collection 2000.56 ("Leonard and Sarah (Clegg) Midgley were both natives of England, emigrating to Worcester in 1869 with seven of their 12 children"). William F. Carroll, finding aid, Midgley Family Collection, 2000.56, Worcester Historical Museum Archives, September 2000, p. 4: https://worcesterhistorical.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/midgley-family-2000.56.pdf

One of these children is Xanthula. Syra, c. 1926-1928.