America’s Tradition of Helping Refugees: How One Charity Made a Difference

Since 1915, the Near East Foundation, in New York, has been providing humanitarian aid in Africa and the Middle East.

To document the work of

the organization, the Museum of the City of New York has mounted an exhibit showing more than 300 photographs, fund-raising solicitations, and other artifacts.

The charity was founded by the philanthropist Cleveland H. Dodge, who called together prominent civic leaders, mostly New Yorkers, to help Armenians, Greeks, and others forced from their homes by the upheavals of World War I.

The charity’s success in raising money and helping refugees soon led it to expand its operations. In 1919, Congress designated the organization as the primary channel for postwar aid. Today, the group focuses mostly on providing training and money to grass-roots efforts to help people in developing countries build their economies and improve their lives.

The exhibit shows numerous appeals used by the group, which was originally called Near East Relief, including posters that were designed by some of America’s top illustrators using rallying slogans such as “Clear Your Plate — Remember the Starving Children in Armenia.”

The money raised through such efforts allowed the Near East Foundation to run orphanages and health clinics and provide vocational training. A photograph in the exhibit shows the gratitude of the more than 25,000 children housed at a former Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia: The youngsters stood in formation to spell the words, “America, we thank you.”