Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

AGMA Announces Major Research Library Donation

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • AGMA Announces Major Research Library Donation

    Armenian Genocide Museum of America
    1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036
    Phone: 202-383-9009, Web: www.armeniangenocidemuseum.org

    PRESS RELEASE

    October 8, 2008
    CONTACT: Carole Karabashian
    Phone: (202) 383-9009
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Web: www.armeniangenocidemuseum.org


    ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES MAJOR RESEARCH LIBRARY
    DONATION


    Washington, DC - Two donors, who presently wish to remain anonymous,
    have gifted the Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) with an
    exceptional collection of books and other printed material focused on
    the Armenian Genocide and its documentation.

    The collection of several thousand rare and out-of-print books and other
    documents is slated for transfer to the AGMA in time for the opening of
    the museum in 2010. AGMA will include a complete facility to support
    ongoing research at the museum.

    The remarkable collection contains many valuable items including maps,
    photographs, and other historical evidence reflecting acquisitions,
    research, and exploration across numerous archives.

    In making their gift to AGMA, the two donors stated: "Indeed, the very
    raison d'être of this collection is that everyone needs to know that
    there is a massive amount of documentation on what happened to the
    Armenians. At the same time, there is also ample testimony that they
    were able to overcome the attempt to annihilate them and to recover from
    such unprecedented adversity. And, all this with a great deal of help
    from the U.S.A. What better place to show this than in Washington, DC?"

    The donors hope that the gift will serve as an incentive for others to
    contribute relevant works as well. Collection development is a major
    objective of the AGMA library. Accepting the donation, AGMA Trustee and
    Building and Operations Committee Chairman Van Krikorian, said: "We are
    thrilled to receive this astounding gift of an entire library of
    specialized publications concentrating on the Armenian Genocide. The
    donors' monumental achievement in creating this collection and
    tremendous generosity in choosing the AGMA as the home for the
    collection represent a true match made in heaven."

    Krikorian went on to say: "This collection of works ranging in their
    coverage from the mid-1800s to the present has personal meaning for a
    variety of reasons. First, this specialized Armenian Genocide
    collection is destined to constitute the foundation of the museum
    library. Second, the donation of this entire pre-existing collection,
    along with our own Assembly and ANI materials, and in light of the help
    we are getting from the Near East Foundation and the Armenian Genocide
    Museum in Yerevan, and others, immediately puts AGMA out front in
    Washington for running the type of research center that we plan and need
    to support the museum, its exhibits and activities. Our donors have
    established a standard of sharing with this extraordinary donation in
    the same community-minded spirit of Anoush Mathevosian, Hirair
    Hovnanian, and the Kechejian family, which we hope others will emulate."

    The library donors are scientists with advanced degrees, one with
    Armenian roots and the other with no such roots but with a fervent
    interest in human rights, peace, and social justice. The gift is being
    made in memory of the parents of one of the scientists. They were from
    the same small mountain village in the Kharpert region of Armenia. One
    was a Genocide survivor; the other was a "gamavor" or volunteer from
    America who served in the Armenian Legion or Legion d'Orient.

    This special collection will significantly expand the holdings of the
    Armenian National Institute (ANI), which has been serving as the
    research facility of the AGMA. ANI is already the beneficiary of the
    oral history project conducted by the Armenian Assembly of America in
    the 1980s, which also sponsored in the 1990s, the first comprehensive
    collection of 37,000 pages of U.S. documents from the National Archives
    issued on microfiche with a 476-page guide to the documents, both
    published by Chadwyck-Healey, Inc. Over the years, ANI has also
    acquired important archival holdings from around the world.

    The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is an outgrowth of the Armenian
    Assembly of America and the Armenian National Institute (ANI), catalyzed
    by the initial pledge of Anoush Mathevosian toward building such a
    museum in Washington, DC.

    #####

    NR#2008-09
Working...
X