ACASR in the Caucasus Photo Album (1918–1920)

Ernest A. Yarrow (1876–1939), a British-born American missionary and relief administrator, compiled this photographic album documenting the operations of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief (ACASR) in the Caucasus, ca. 1918–1920. Yarrow had witnessed the 1915 massacres in Van vilayet firsthand before fleeing with refugee columns across the Russian border. He returned to the Caucasus as an ACASR field representative and by 1920 served as Near East Relief Director General for the region, overseeing care for an estimated 30,000 orphans and work-relief programs employing approximately 150,000 refugees in and around Erivan (Yerevan) and Etchmiadzin.

The album’s captioned photographs are organized by ACASR department — Wool, Cotton, Bedding, Weaving, Clothing, Carpentry, Home Orphan, and Employment Bureau/Medical — the production and casework categories ACASR used to account to donors. This selection presents images documenting the full production cycle of the work-relief system, from raw-material intake through manufacturing to finished goods, alongside photographs of orphan care, widows’ allowances, medical clinics, and employment placement. The album is held in the Mansfield Family personal collection.