Niles-Sutherland Investigation Report (1919)
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Location

Mardin, Turkey

Year

1919

Item Detail

Report of Captain Emory H. Niles and Mr. Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. on Trip of Investigation through Eastern Turkish Vilayets

Context

In the summer of 1919, Captain Emory H. Niles (1892–1976) and Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. (1902–1973) traveled by horseback through the eastern vilayets of the former Ottoman Empire on assignment from ACRNE chairman James L. Barton. Between July 14 and August 12, they crossed approximately 1,400 kilometers from Mardin to Trabzon (Trebizond) by way of Bitlis, Van, Bayazid (Doğubayazıt), and Erzurum, assessing relief needs and the feasibility of Armenian repatriation. Niles, a U.S. Army captain, and Sutherland, a seventeen-year-old civilian volunteer, were accompanied by Turkish medical student Osman Rohi as interpreter.

This is the formal report submitted to Barton upon their return to Constantinople on August 16, 1919. It documents the near-total destruction of eastern Anatolia's communities, records the impossibility of Armenian return, and recommends immediate relief operations, including orphanage takeovers and food distribution.

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  • Holding Institution

    US National Archives and Records Administration

  • External Link
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niles_and_Sutherland_Report.pdf

  • Attribution

    U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Records of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace (RG 256)

  • 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.

  • Notes

    NARA RG 256: Records of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, file 184.021/175, microfilm M820B, roll 231. ACRNE relief survey report filed among Harbord Commission papers; predates the Harbord mission by several weeks (Niles-Sutherland completed August 15; Harbord departed Istanbul September 7). Digitized PDF available on Wikimedia Commons (PD US Government). Companion field notes held at SALT Research, Istanbul (ABA132C05).

Niles-Sutherland Investigation Report (1919)