Collections
NER Employment Contract, Nellie Marie Miller, 1921
Location
United States
Year
1921
Item Detail
NER employment contract signed by Nellie Marie Miller, August 1921
Context
Nellie Marie Miller Mann (1897–1997) was a Mennonite volunteer from Elkhart, Indiana, who served as secretary to the treasurer of Near East Relief headquarters in Beirut from 1921 to 1923.
A graduate of Goshen College and member of Prairie Street Mennonite Church, she was one of only two Mennonite women to serve in the Near East through the Mennonite Relief Commission during this period. From her desk in the Beirut office, Mann processed correspondence and financial records while the organization managed the evacuation of tens of thousands of Armenian orphans from Cilicia into Syria. She witnessed the Smyrna disaster refugee crisis of 1922 and the murder of NER worker Lester James Wright by bandits near Aleppo.
The collection includes personal and official correspondence, NER administrative reports, field accounts of relief operations in Syria and Cilicia, and documents related to the deaths of NER workers Lester James Wright and Menno Shellenberger. Mann’s letters to her family and fiancé Cleo Mann provide a rare firsthand account of daily life at NER headquarters during one of the organization’s most intense operational periods.
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Holding Institution
Rockefeller Archive Center
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External Link
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Attribution
Nellie Miller Mann Series (Series 14), Near East Foundation Records (FA406), Rockefeller Archive Center. Courtesy of David Mann.
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Rights
Some materials may be protected by U.S. copyright law. Materials are presented for non-commercial research and educational use under fair use. Uses beyond fair use may require permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for rights determination and compliance rests with the user.
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Notes
Personnel agreement between Near East Relief and Miss Nellie Marie Miller of 145 Madison Avenue, Elkhart, Indiana, naming her father, Mr. A.R. Miller, as next of kin, signed by Nellie and an NER officer, with a hand-typed slip noting departure aboard the SS Patria for Naples on August 20, 1921, and transportation provided to Beirut. Standard terms include a two-year field commitment with one month’s release after notification, a salary of $50 per month (terminable on dismissal or breaking the agreement), maintenance covering housing, board, and laundry up to $100 per month, full transportation from the United States to the field and back, and a total-abstinence clause prohibiting any alcoholic beverages during service. The agreement reserves NER’s right to reassign personnel by district or station and to dismiss any worker for noncompliance with regulations. Together with the August 20, 1921, appointment letter, it documents NER’s standard 1921 enlistment terms.
David W. Mann published his mother’s writings in Letters from Syria, 1921–1923 (2013) and donated the original materials to the Near East Foundation.
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Document Contents
“Duplicate” personnel agreement between Near East Relief (1 Madison Avenue, New York) and Miss Nellie Marie Miller of 145 Madison Avenue, Elkhart, Indiana, naming Mr. A.R. Miller as next of kin, signed by Nellie and an NER officer, with a typed slip noting departure aboard the SS Patria for Naples on August 20, 1921, transportation provided to Beirut, and no money advanced for traveling expenses. Standard terms include a two-year field commitment running from arrival on the field to release for return to America, salary of $50 per month (terminating one month after release on completion or on the day of dismissal), maintenance (housing, board, and laundry) provided in kind by NER with up to $100 per month allowed for living expenses where in-kind support is impracticable, full transportation from the United States to the field and back, and a total-abstinence clause prohibiting any alcoholic beverages during service. The agreement reserves NER’s right to reassign personnel by district or station and to dismiss any worker for noncompliance with regulations or other just cause to be recorded in writing. With the August 20, 1921 appointment letter, it constitutes Nellie Miller’s full enlistment record.