Browse Exhibits (1 total)

In the wake of the Armenian genocide, thousands of people were forced to flee their homeland and scatter across the world, taking whatever remnants of their old life they could salvage. A century later, Armenians have built thriving communities in America, built on togetherness, cultural pride, and rememberance of what was lost. 

However, the process of creating these communities was not an easy one, and it is still impossible to know if these displaced communities in America can ever measure up to the homeland Armenians were robbed of. This exhibit explores the idea of "home," and how it shifts and changes in light of a cultural destruction such as the Armenian genocide. 

The stories and items in this exhibit are derived from community interviews with Sarah Anderson, Jennie Garabedian, and Mari Firkatian, all descendants of Armenian genocide survivors. Each of their interviews were infused with a sense of longing for the lost domestic life of pre-war Armenia, a comfortable existence that was perpetually mourned by the survivors. This exhibit will trace the three families in their path from Armenia to America, and then reveal the community survivors were able to build in the new country.