Orphans exercise at the Temple of Jupiter below the Acropolis. Athens.

Location

Athens, Greece

Year

Undated

Item Detail

The Greek government gave Near East Relief the free use of the Zappeion exhibition hall and other state buildings in Athens, and boys brought out of Asia Minor were housed in them. They drilled on the open ground at the Olympieion, the ruined Temple of Olympian Zeus, with the Acropolis behind.

Context

The American Red Cross built up a large photograph file during and after the First World War. Its own staff took most of the pictures, of refugees, medical work, living conditions, and personnel in more than sixteen countries, and the file also took in photographs from other relief bodies. A card index recorded each glass negative's caption, date, and source. The American National Red Cross gave the collection, about 20,000 glass negatives and 62,000 prints, to the Library of Congress in 1944 and 1952.

This photograph is one of six from the collection that NERHS holds outside its Palestine and Port Said groups. They are a 1920 portrait of Blanche Knox, assigned to the American Committee for Relief in the Near East, a photograph of an Armenian orphanage sent to the Red Cross in 1917, three photographs of an Armenian refugee village in Greece in 1922, and a postcard of Near East Relief orphans in Athens that the Red Cross filed with its prints of Greece.

View in the Digital Archive

  • Holding Institution

    Library of Congress

  • External Link
    https://www.loc.gov/item/2010648474/

  • Attribution

    Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, American National Red Cross photograph collection, LC-USZ62-139275.

  • 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. If you believe you hold rights in this material or have information about rights holders not currently reflected, please contact [email protected].

  • Notes

    Printed on the postcard: "Orphans under care of American Near East Relief exercising at ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Athens. In the background the Acropolis." Library of Congress title: "Orphans under care of American Near East Relief exercising at ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Athens In the background the Acropolis." Photographer: Petros Poulidēs (1885-1967). LOC date: [between 1921 and 1922]. Medium: "1 photographic print (postcard)." Filed in "Greece Children General" (folder). Reproduction no. LC-USZ62-139275. LOC record: https://www.loc.gov/item/2010648474/

    Sources for the Item Detail:

    • NERHS, "Strangers in a Strange Land: Near East Relief in Athens," Near East Museum, May 20, 2016 ("The government presented Near East Relief with the beautiful Zappeion Exhibition Hall"; "In addition to the exhibition hall, the Greek government granted Near East Relief the use of the Old Royal Palace nearby"; "The Zappeion opened with 900 boys, many of whom were from the Samsoun region of Turkey"; "The boys exercised and played at the nearby Temple of Jupiter"): https://neareastmuseum.com/2016/05/20/strangers-strange-land-near-east-relief-athens

    • Library of Congress subject heading on this record: "Olympieion (Athens, Greece)--1920-1930."

    About this group: American National Red Cross photograph collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

    Sources:

    • Library of Congress, American National Red Cross photograph collection, guide record ("Photographs of Red Cross relief work and staff members"; "composed largely of photos taken by Red Cross staff members during and following World War I"; "in over sixteen European and Asian countries"; prints "ca. 62,000", glass negatives "ca. 20,000"; "A local card index, received with the collection, includes extensive caption, date, and photographer credit for the glass negatives"; "Gift; Red Cross; 1944 and 1952"): https://www.loc.gov/item/2009632518/

    • Library of Congress, Red Cross caption card for anrc.05434 ("Blanche Knox, assigned to Committee for Relief in the Near East"): https://www.loc.gov/item/2017671288/

    • Library of Congress, Red Cross caption card for anrc.10632 (source "Armenian and Serian Relief Committee"; date received November 1917): https://www.loc.gov/item/2017676380/

    • Library of Congress, Red Cross caption cards for anrc.15024, 15033, and 15034 ("Data: 1922. Classification: Dr. (Fire) Smyrna (refugee-Greece)"): https://www.loc.gov/item/2017680044/

    • Library of Congress record for cph.3c39275 ("Filed in: Greece Children General (folder)"; "Forms part of: American National Red Cross photograph collection"): https://www.loc.gov/item/2010648474/

Orphans exercise at the Temple of Jupiter below the Acropolis. Athens.