Baptist and Greek Orthodox clergy sort donated clothing for Near East Relief, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Item Detail

Rev. Robert Gordon, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Father Papestephanon of the Greek Church, Sorting and Packing Clothing and Shoes for Near East Relief

Context

Near East Relief's Bundle Day clothing drives mobilized Americans across religious and ethnic lines. This photograph from The New Near East magazine shows Rev. Robert Gordon, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Father Papestephanon of the local Greek Orthodox church sorting and packing donated clothing and shoes for shipment overseas. Their collaboration illustrates the ecumenical breadth of NER's domestic support: Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox congregations all participated in relief campaigns, alongside synagogues, fraternal organizations like the Knights of Columbus, and civic groups like the Rotary and Boy Scouts.

Greek Orthodox communities in the United States had a particularly direct connection to NER's work. The Greek Relief Committee, formed in 1917 in response to the Greek Genocide, shared offices with NER at 1 Madison Avenue in New York, and NER was actively caring for Greek as well as Armenian and Assyrian survivors of the Ottoman genocides. For Greek-American parishes like Father Papestephanon's, the clothing they packed was destined for communities to which they had personal and familial ties.