The appeal that founded Near East Relief, Sept. 3, 1915
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Year

1915

Item Detail

Constantinople (Istanbul), September 3, 1915: Morgenthau asked Washington to have Cleveland Dodge, Charles Crane, John R. Mott, Stephen Wise and others form a committee to raise funds and save the Armenians — the appeal that founded Near East Relief.

Context

On September 3, 1915, Morgenthau sent the cable that set Near East Relief in motion. Reporting that the “destruction of Armenian race in Turkey is progressing rapidly,” with massacres at Angora (Ankara) and Broussa (Bursa), he asked Lansing to suggest to Cleveland H. Dodge, Charles R. Crane, John R. Mott, Stephen Wise and others that they form a committee to raise funds, save some of the Armenians, and help the poorest emigrate. Those men met in New York that September and founded the Committee on Armenian Atrocities, soon the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief and, by 1919, Near East Relief. The body this cable called for would raise more than one hundred million dollars and care for some 132,000 orphans. It is, in effect, NER’s founding document.

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  • Holding Institution

    US National Archives and Records Administration

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    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.

  • Document Contents

    Telegram 1005, September 3, 1915, 9 a.m.; received September 8. “Confidential.” Green Cipher. Names Cleveland H. Dodge, Charles R. Crane, John R. Mott, and Stephen S. Wise; proposes enlisting California, Oregon, and Washington to ship refugees via the Panama Canal. Signed “Morgenthau.” NARA, RG 59, 867.4016 (decimal to verify); microfilm M353, roll 43, frame 0959. Classification canceled Jan. 8, 1958.

The appeal that founded Near East Relief, Sept. 3, 1915