Armenian Orphan Rug to be displayed at White House Visitor Center

October 16, 2014 - 13:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On November 18-23, the White House Visitor Center will show an exhibit entitled: “Thank you to the United States: Three Gifts to Presidents in Gratitude for American Generosity Abroad.” Among those gifts displayed will be the Ghazir Rug. The rug, also known as the “Armenian Orphan Rug” was presented to President Coolidge in 1925 in recognition of the humanitarian assistance rendered by the American people to displaced Armenian orphans, NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said in a statement posted at the White House website.

The rug is made to characterize the Garden of Eden, contains 4 million knots and took 18 months to complete. The rug measures 11.5 feet by 19 feet and is in excellent condition. It was removed with President Coolidge’s personal possessions when he left office in 1929 but was returned to the White House as a gift from his family in 1982. The rug has only been displayed twice since then, and is a reminder of the close relationship between the people of Armenia and the United States.

The other two items in the exhibit are a Sèvres vase commissioned by “Young People of France” that is believed to have been sent to President Hoover in 1930 in appreciation for feeding children in post-World War I France, and Flowering Branches in Lucite which were sent to President Obama in recognition of American support of the people of Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2010.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.