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The Pappas Post
March 8 2015
Remembering Constance Sheltman: A Kentucky Woman Who Left Her Job as
a Bookkeeper to Assist Greek Refugee Women Rebuild Their Lives
Kentucky native Constance Sheltman left her job as a school bookkeeper
in 1920 to become the director of the industrial department for Near
East Relief, a US relief organization serving areas of conflict and
crisis in the Middle East. She was stationed in Constantinople,
Turkey.
There she helped Armenian and Greek women preserve traditional
embroidery and weaving techniques, and created a weaving department in
Ismid, Turkey, that employed thousands of Greek refugee women fleeing
the genocide in Turkey.
Clothing and accessories such as purses, shawls, and handkerchiefs
were popular items in the Near East Industries shop in Constantinople,
as well as in a storefront in New York City, seasonal holiday shops,
and one-day sales around the country--the precursor to today's pop-up
shops.
After a brief interval as a Near East Relief speaker back home in the
United States, Miss Sheltman founded an industrial center for women in
Thessaloniki, Greece, that specialized in traditional rug-making and
silk weaving. The women were able to make a living for themselves and
their children through the sale of traditional handiwork.
Some of the young women and girls at the center bore the vivid blue
tattoos of slavery on their hands and faces--a sign they had been held
captive in a Turkish harem. At first, these troubled women were not
readily accepted by the other refugee because of their perceived
sexual impropriety. Fortunately, Miss Sheltman's vocational programs
made it possible for them to earn a living and gain a sense of
community.
http://www.pappaspost.com/remembering-constance-sheltman-a-kentucky-woman-who-left-her-job-as-a-bookkeeper-to-assist-greek-refugee-women-rebuild-their-lives/
March 8 2015
Remembering Constance Sheltman: A Kentucky Woman Who Left Her Job as
a Bookkeeper to Assist Greek Refugee Women Rebuild Their Lives
Kentucky native Constance Sheltman left her job as a school bookkeeper
in 1920 to become the director of the industrial department for Near
East Relief, a US relief organization serving areas of conflict and
crisis in the Middle East. She was stationed in Constantinople,
Turkey.
There she helped Armenian and Greek women preserve traditional
embroidery and weaving techniques, and created a weaving department in
Ismid, Turkey, that employed thousands of Greek refugee women fleeing
the genocide in Turkey.
Clothing and accessories such as purses, shawls, and handkerchiefs
were popular items in the Near East Industries shop in Constantinople,
as well as in a storefront in New York City, seasonal holiday shops,
and one-day sales around the country--the precursor to today's pop-up
shops.
After a brief interval as a Near East Relief speaker back home in the
United States, Miss Sheltman founded an industrial center for women in
Thessaloniki, Greece, that specialized in traditional rug-making and
silk weaving. The women were able to make a living for themselves and
their children through the sale of traditional handiwork.
Some of the young women and girls at the center bore the vivid blue
tattoos of slavery on their hands and faces--a sign they had been held
captive in a Turkish harem. At first, these troubled women were not
readily accepted by the other refugee because of their perceived
sexual impropriety. Fortunately, Miss Sheltman's vocational programs
made it possible for them to earn a living and gain a sense of
community.
http://www.pappaspost.com/remembering-constance-sheltman-a-kentucky-woman-who-left-her-job-as-a-bookkeeper-to-assist-greek-refugee-women-rebuild-their-lives/