Künzler and girls display the White House carpet and other rugs. Ghazir, c. 1925.

Location

Ghazir, Lebanon

Year

c. 1925

Item Detail

The large carpet with the pointed star medallion is the White House carpet, also known as the Ghazir Rug or Armenian Orphan Rug. Its distinctive pattern matches the carpet photographed with President Calvin Coolidge at its presentation in Washington on December 4, 1925. The gift recognized American assistance to Armenian orphans.

Ghazir’s rug production combined vocational training with an effort to earn income. In October 1926, Acheson questioned the accounting and credit arrangements for sales through Künzler’s brother in Switzerland. By June 1927, overhead was higher than Künzler had expected. Acheson praised improvements in the rugs and dyeing, but opposed immediate expansion. He also found that the apparent profit largely covered underestimated costs and proposed a more equal division of profits with the Swiss outlet.

Context

Barclay Acheson, an ordained minister, became Near East Relief’s Associate General Secretary in 1922. He visited its orphanages that summer and in 1923 assumed direction of relief work in Greece, Syria, and the Caucasus. Based in Athens during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, he had become Director of Overseas Operations by 1925. His inspections addressed children’s care, education, and placement outside orphanages. He later served as Executive Secretary of the Near East Foundation until leaving for full-time work at Reader’s Digest in 1937.

This photograph is part of Acheson’s collection documenting Near East Relief and the Near East Foundation. The photographs recorded orphanage life, nursing, vocational training, refugee settlements, and the journeys between relief stations. His surviving diaries recorded the visits and administrative decisions that accompanied this work. The Thompson/Acheson family donated the material to the Near East Foundation, which subsequently transferred it to the Rockefeller Archive Center. NERHS used digital files retained in NEF’s Acheson holdings.

View in the Digital Archive

  • Holding Institution

    Rockefeller Archive Center

  • External Link
    https://dimes.rockarch.org/objects/j99aFGyUKfMgtAdC8dsAx6

  • Attribution

    Rockefeller Archive Center. Near East Foundation records. Barclay Acheson, Series 12.

  • Rights

    This material is protected by copyright. Permission has been granted for its non-commercial research and educational display by NERHS. Uses beyond this permission may require permission from the rights holder. 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

    Associated annotation on a related print, scan FA406_S12_B008_105:
    “Ghazir orphanage
    in Lebanon -
    White House Rug”

    The legacy image corresponds to print FA406_S12_B008_107 in opposite horizontal orientation. The annotated print FA406_S12_B008_104 shows a related exposure. Comparison with the Library of Congress presentation photograph identifies the large star-medallion carpet as the White House carpet. The presentation date documents the gift, not the date of this Ghazir exposure. The photograph’s c. 1925 date remains an estimate.

    Acheson’s June 15, 1927 diary records photographing rugs at Ghazir. No exact exposure match establishes that these photographs were taken on that date.

    Sources for the Item Detail:

    • Barclay Acheson, Diary 1926 Part 2, October 15, 1926, memorandum A and continuation, stamped pp. 283–284, PDF pp. 78–79: “The whole arrangement was becoming quite unbusinesslike.” Rockefeller Archive Center, FA406 S12 B003 F026. https://dimes.rockarch.org/collections/64fr94a5BkPfRg5mqsSJnA

    • Barclay Acheson, Diary 1927 Part 1, June 15, 1927, stamped pp. 173 and 158, PDF pp. 192 and 177: “Kunzler wants to expand his rug industry because his overhead is higher than he had figured.” Continuation: “Took some pictures of the various rugs.” Rockefeller Archive Center, FA406 S12 B003 F027. https://dimes.rockarch.org/collections/64fr94a5BkPfRg5mqsSJnA

    • Barclay Acheson, Diary 1927 Part 2, June 18, 1927, continuations B–C, stamped pp. 189–190, PDF pp. 1–2: “the 10% that we have been showing as a profit in reality just about covers the difference between actual cost and estimated cost.” Rockefeller Archive Center, FA406 S12 B003 F028. https://dimes.rockarch.org/collections/64fr94a5BkPfRg5mqsSJnA

    • Rockefeller Archive Center, Barclay Acheson Collection, associated annotation FA406_S12_B008_105 and prints FA406_S12_B008_104 and FA406_S12_B008_107. The annotation reads “Ghazir orphanage / in Lebanon - / White House Rug”. Print B008_107 matches portal photograph 77719 in opposite horizontal orientation. https://dimes.rockarch.org/collections/64fr94a5BkPfRg5mqsSJnA

    • National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress, “Pres. Coolidge presented rug by Near East Relief Com., 12/4/25,” December 4, 1925. LC-DIG-npcc-15197, item 2016841461. The large pointed star medallion, surrounding field and multiple borders match the main carpet in Acheson photograph 77719. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016841461/

    • The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, statement on the display of the Ghazir Rug, October 15, 2014. Identifies the Ghazir Rug as the Armenian Orphan Rug presented to President Coolidge in 1925 in recognition of American assistance to Armenian orphans. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/10/15/statement-nsc-spokesperson-bernadette-meehan-display-ghazir-rug-white-ho

    About this group

    Barclay Acheson Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center.

    • Near East Foundation, A Lasting Impact: The Near East Foundation Celebrates a Century of Service (2015), p. 36, ‘Barclay Acheson’: “Associate General Secretary for NER in 1922” and “By 1925, Acheson had become the Director of Overseas Operations.” https://neareast.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/A-Lasting-Impact-.pdf#page=43

    • Barclay Acheson, Diary 1927 Part 2, June 26, 1927, stamped p. 208: “went with Bridgeman to see the so-called Assyrian refugee camp” https://neareastrelief.org/asset/89017/

    • Barclay Acheson, Diary 1927 Part 2, July 11, 1927, stamped p. 265: “I went to the orphanage and took some interesting pictures of the children building playhouses.” https://neareastrelief.org/asset/89017/

Künzler and girls display the White House carpet and other rugs. Ghazir, c. 1925.