Musa Dagh – Schools (A)

Author: Vahram L. Shemmassian, 20/12/ 24 (Last modified 20/12/ 24)

Educational life in mid-nineteenth century Musa Dagh could be described with one word, “barrenness,” for hardly could anyone in all the villages read, write and or calculate taxes on paper. [1] This situation changed thanks to Protestant and Catholic missionaries who not only declared war on illiteracy for its own sake, but also and primarily for proselytizing purposes.  The majority Apostolic community lagged behind for several decades because of ignorance and/or negligence, but ultimately realized the value and urgency of learning to combat those alien inroads and to promote nationalism for the preservation of Armenian identity. Whatever the motives of the three confessional groups, a certain number of Musa Daghtsis (people of Musa Dagh) by World War I had been exposed to books, languages, and other subjects, albeit mostly at the elementary level.

Information regarding education within the Apostolic community in Musa Dagh prior to the 1890s is scanty. The first “national” schools surfaced in Bitias and Haji Habibli during the 1860s, [2] probably as a result of the sociocultural awakening among the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire beginning in the first half of the nineteenth century and the promulgation of the Armenian National Constitution in 1863 that gave ordinary laymen certain rights alongside the Church in the running of internal community affairs. But the nascent schools were short-lived.  During the following three decades some children received a pittance of education from visiting teachers, who only administered Ottoman Turkish in Armenian script. [3] Exceptionally, in 1887 “the Gregorian [Apostolic] Armenians opened a competing school [in Yoghun Oluk] after our [Protestant] boys’ school was opened but most of the boys, who left, came back in a short time.” [4]  Two years later not a single national school existed in all of Musa Dagh, [5] a vacuum that prevailed through most of the 1890s.

Things began to change at the turn of the century. Four factors occasioned this positive shift.  First, the preaching of Social Democrat Hnchagian Party (SDHP) revolutionaries during the mid-1890s awakened the national consciousness of the ignorant highlanders to some extent. Second, a few visiting and local priests, including a relatively enlightened clergyman, Fr. Apraham Der Kalusdian, underscored the advantages of education. [6] Third, the Locum Tenens of the Aleppo Prelacy, Bedros Nergararian, seized every opportunity to promote learning from the altar and dispatched teachers to the village communities under his jurisdiction. [7] And fourth, the Cairo-based Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the Constantinople-based United Societies of Armenians collaborated in establishing and supporting a network of urban and rural schools that benefited Musa Dagh as well. [8]

The Apostolic community of Bitias, after having “not seen the face of a teacher or a school” for forty years, [9] in 1897 asked the Aleppo Prelacy to provide them with an instructor. [10] His job description emphasized expertise in Armenian, Ottoman Turkish, and liturgical hymns. Besides, he ought to have “clean morals,” “good manners,” “humility,” and “integrity.” What was more, “given the expansiveness of the Protestant religion” in the village, it was “mandatory” for the candidate to be “tactful and astute.” As compensation he would receive 100-125 piasters per month plus food. [11] After deferring action for an unspecified reason, [12] the Prelacy in 1898 dispatched a certain Khachadur Hagopian, who had to surmount “extreme difficulties and obstacle” before putting the new school in order. At the end of the first scholastic year “boys who were shepherds yesterday are [now] singing, reciting, and conversing,” that is, in standard Western Armenian vernacular. At the same time, the existing charitable endowments, which to date had been mismanaged by “pitiless people,” were overhauled to generate new income. [13] In 1906, a modest 25 pupils attended the school. [14] Five years later, in 1911, their number had doubled, to 44 boys and 6 girls, who were taught by a male and a female teacher, respectively. [15] As a result of this increase, plans were made to build “a general national school” for an estimated 200 Ottoman liras and an annual budget of 80-100 liras. [16] It is uncertain if this project materialized.

In 1898, a visiting teacher named Hovhannes from Arapgir, Mamuret ul-Aziz/Kharpert province, ran the Vartanian School of Haji Habibli. [17] The number of pupils varied between 25 and 50 boys and girls in 1906. [18] By late 1909 two schools existed, the Vartanian for boys and the Shushanian for girls, taught by a male and a female teacher, respectively. [19] In a letter to Catholicos of All Armenians Madteos II Izmirlian at Echmiadzin, Eastern (or Russian) Armenia, the senior teacher of Haji Habibli, Vartan Varteresian, and the parish priest, Fr. Arsen Der Arakelian, explained that the textbooks in their two schools were “irregular” and incomplete, which caused “great harm,” and that the teachers did not receive their full salaries. Although the two men had previously asked the Patriarchate of Constantinople to help them in obtaining from the United Societies 10-15 liras to cover about one-third of the budget and 5-6 liras worth of textbooks, they now beseeched the Pontiff to exert pressure on Constantinople in order for their pleas “to be heard.” [20] Another supplication was made to the Aleppo Prelacy for an allocation of 6-10 liras for books and slates from the ₤42½ that the AGBU had sent in support of the 1909 massacre survivors in the Antioch district. While we do not know whether Constantinople obliged, the Aleppo Prelacy Civic Council turned down the request explaining that a subvention from the Maarif (Education Department) earmarked for the Armenian schools in Antioch and Musa Dagh would cover both the teachers’ salaries and other educational needs “this year” (sometime after May 6, 1910). [21]

Varteresian, a persistent man and a bibliophile, continued to write to Echmiadzin asking for books, calendars, and Ararad, the official periodical of the Pontificate – publications that would also benefit his students. [22] He wrote to the new Catholicos of All Armenians, Kevork V Sureniants, on March 16/29, 1913: “I know and am certain that you want every single person of the nation to be someone educated; therefore, [kindly] do not attempt to extinguish our wish.  Let us, too, with Your grace, read, be informed, and as educator[s] teach our students as well.  Send our requests [of those publications] for the sake of our young generation”. [23]

Hapet Isgenderian, a native, replaced Varteresian as teacher when the latter was ordained priest sometime after spring 1913. Thus described a pupil life at the Haji Habibli school during Isgenderian’s tenure: “Our school, next to the church, was a spacious hall with a small vestibule edged by mulberry trees. Our teacher served the entire student body. The older, advanced pupils used to teach the younger ones. A large stove was placed right in the middle of the hall.  Each pupil … used to go near the teacher’s desk to read. We used to sit in rows on mats spread over the floor. During winter, everyone used to bring a mattress and was also obliged to bring a piece of wood to heat the stove. The history, religion, [and] geography lessons were held collectively.  The most vexing course was arithmetic”. [24]

Haji Habibli also needed a new school building. Notable Mardir Isgenderian secured a suitable lot on which to erect what commonly became known locally as “the College.” [25] Its site, measuring 18 gankuns by 15 gankuns (about 226 square meters) that would accommodate four-five classrooms, stood on the edge of the village at an eminent location overlooking a ravine surrounded by beautiful scenery. Locum Tenens of the Aleppo Prelacy V. Rev. Shahe Kasbarian officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony, and donated 10 liras from his own pocket. [26] For their part, the Aleppo Prelacy and the government contributed 12¾ liras [27] and 27 liras, [28] respectively. By early summer 1911 the school’s exterior walls measured 3 gankuns (2.7 meters) high. The school was envisioned to become the central elementary institution for all the Musa Dagh villages, which, according to the Locum Tenens, were only able to maintain kindergartens. The latter would thus become feeders to the school of Haji Habibli, thereby saving both energy and finances. The urgency of this school was also predicated on the preservation of national identity that foreign missionary influences threatened. [29] Despite these concerns, and the earnest efforts to address them, the College building had not yet been completed by World War I.

Education in Yoghun Oluk was spurred in 1898 when, after years of expressed concerns, the parish council appointed a board of trustees and invited an instructor from Severeg, Diyarbekir province, named Yeghia. [30] The first year’s final exams and commencement exercises took place on October 23 in the presence of a large crowd, including priests and Protestant guests led by Pastor Sdepan Mahshigian. The exams focused on the Armenian textbook, Mayreni lezu (Mother Tongue), the Turkish textbook, Letayif (Quips), Güldeste (Anthology of Poems), grammar, and arithmetic. The annual school report was read in Turkish, Pastor Mahshigian delivered the keynote speech on “Knowledge,” and the pupils staged a scene from the comedy Yeranos aghpar (Brother Yeranos). According to the reporter covering the event, even the smallest of the “young teenagers” were able “to utter words clearly.” [31]

The initial hopes and expectation at Yoghun Oluk were soon dashed as the new Catholic school, established next to the Apostolic one, attracted 14 poor pupils. [32] Persistent poverty must have been the main reason for the Apostolic school to close its doors in 1906, [33] and again in 1911. [34] In order to keep the school running, a group of local youths sometime between 1908 and 1910 founded an educational association, dubbed Tbrotsasirats Miutiun, to establish a permanent fund and use its interest for the various needs. [35] Twelve Yoghun Oluk émigrés in Buenos Aires, Argentina, established a chapter after 1911 aiming to build a school in their native village.  Because most chapter members relocated to New Britain, Connecticut, they formed a new organization in 1914, called Educational Society of Yoghun Oluk.  It raised $1,400, but was unable to send it home due to World War I. [36]

Apostolic education in Kabusiye appears to have begun in the 1900s. The first student body consisted of 35 boys and girls, taught by a young man and a Protestant woman, respectively. [37] By 1910 only one teacher had remained to teach a select few. [38] In order to remedy this “unenviable” situation, the wealthiest village notable, Kevork Baljian, promised to donate his house, mulberry orchards, and most of his remaining possessions for religious and educational purposes in memory of his only child who had died at an early age. Baljian would honor his pledge provided the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the United Societies took care of him and his wife through the rest of their lives or paid in full the 600 liras he owed his creditors. [39] Negotiations between him and Mikael Natanian, the United Societies’ inspector general in Cilicia, ended inconclusively. [40]

Despite this setback, the United Societies, acting on behalf of the AGBU, on April 1, 1911 inaugurated a grammar school in Kabusiye with 17 pupils, 2 teachers, a custodian, and an annual budget of 30 liras. [41] Another official report for 1911, without mentioning the specific date, put the number of pupils at 85 and the budget at 3,996 kurush/piasters (almost 40 liras), figures that were 500 percent and 25 percent higher than those of April, respectively. [42] In August, Natanian furnished new details: the school was kindergarten-sixth grade, parochial, and coeducational; the number of students varied between 120 and 150; the male teacher, Nazaret Nalbandian of Aintab, prepared to take a certification exam; the staff consisted of two persons. A female teacher had not yet been found. When hired, she would receive an annual salary of 10 liras, and as much as 12 liras “if she was good and especially knew Armenian well.” She could save her entire income because the villagers would cover her travel expenses as well as provide her with lodging and food. Natanian similarly expressed interest in a certain Zakar Masigian, then residing in Aleppo, for a possible teaching position. [43] In all likelihood, the Kabusiye school remained open until World War I.

For more than a decade, from 1898-1910, the national school at Kheder Beg remained a nominal institution operating irregularly and beset by internal discord. [44] In 1911, the United Societies opened a grammar school there with 46 students. [45] Within two years their number increased to 52, who were taught by two teachers with an operational budget of 24 liras. [46] No further information exists about Apostolic education at Kheder Beg.

The neighboring village of Vakef was without a school until 1910. During 1911-12, Movses Der Kalusdian of Yoghun Oluk, then a teenager, ran the Vakef school comprising 38 children. [47] His successor, a native by the name of Boghos, son of Bedros, drew the government’s attention for having published a geography textbook in Ottoman Turkish with Armenian script, titled Mukhtasar Joghrafia (Concise Geography). While covering the Asiatic part of the Ottoman Empire, the author referred to “Ermenistan” (Armenia) with accompanying images of Mount Ararad and Bitlis city. In a question-and answer form, which was the book’s methodology, students would learn about the origins of the Armenian nation, its name, historical borders, date of adoption of Christianity, last king, major Armenian-inhabited cities in the empire’s eastern provinces, and other details. [48] It is uncertain if the textbook was used at the Vakef school, but apparently it was printed in Constantinople. Accordingly, the Aleppo governorate in August 1914 cautioned the Ministry of Education in the capital, as well as the ministries of Information, Justice, and Millets (the empire’s religious communities), regarding the dangers that the textbook ostensibly posed in terms of spreading nationalistic ideas:

“With regards to Boghos Effendi, who is a teacher at Vakef village in Svedia [sub-district], we are informing you that an Armenian geography book he has written is being used to teach students at Armenian schools in Constantinople. We see it fit that this book be taken out of circulation, since it inculcates dangerous ideas in the minds of school children. We further inform you that this book was published by the Boyajian press [in Constantinople]. Therefore, we urge you to take the necessary steps to stop the teaching with this book and to also stop the circulation and any future printing of this book”. [49]

The raising of this issue clearly coincided with the outbreak of World War I, which portended a horrific end to the Armenian people in the empire.

As seen, one of the greatest shortcomings in all Apostolic or national schools of Musa Dagh was the “drought” in textbooks and other instructional supplies. Where such materials existed, they were either insufficient or most parents could not afford them. As a result, many “intelligent, bright, and skillful” children were viewed as victims of the “manhunting traps” set up by foreign missionaries or could not attend school at all. Father Der Kalusdian’s and others’ appeals to the Patriarchate of Constantinople remained by and large inconsequential. [50] Only after the United Societies/AGBU sponsored schools in Haji Habibli, Kabusiye, and Kheder Beg did reading and writing materials become relatively more available to a larger number of pupils.

Because all schools in Musa Dagh, irrespective of their confessional affiliation, were primary, there was no opportunity for eager graduates to further their studies locally. To be sure, many natives at home and abroad yearned for a secondary institution in their mountain. Referring to the 1901-02 scholastic year at Bitias, an American missionary intimated that the Protestant preacher “has excited much interest in better schools and the result, were we able to meet them half way, would probably be a good high-school.” [51] In turn, an anonymous benefactor in 1903 pledged 1,700 Ottoman liras towards the construction and maintenance of a central, perhaps post-elementary school apparently intended for Musa Dagh. Catholicos Sahag II Khabayian of Cilicia inquired about the sponsor’s wishes: did he want a secular or religious school? In a city or in the monastery? Would it be a boarding or day school? How many students would it accommodate? Would they pay or not pay tuition? The Pontiff clearly desired and pushed for a much needed seminary at his Seat rather than an ordinary school in the district of Antioch, arguing that the choice of any one village there as the possible school site would arouse jealousy among the neighboring communities and that the poor people of Sis equally deserved a school. [52] The latter preference prevailed. Later in the decade, a newspaper reminded the importance of a central high school in Musa Dagh, one that would benefit the community at large and in which all three denominations would have an equal say. Because the estimated 1,000 liras for the project’s implementation and upkeep could not be raised locally in its entirety, the lion’s share had to be shouldered by well-to-do compatriots in the United States and elsewhere. [53] This scheme too remained unrealized.

The Protestant minister, Harutiun Nokhudian, in 1914 made a final attempt at establishing a post-elementary school in Bitias. He wrote: “When I started my ministry in Bitias, it was my plan to make Bitias School [sic] the educational center of the seven villages of Musa Dagh. I went to see Dr. John Merrill to ask for his help in carrying out my plan. The faculty of Aintab College decided to help us and for the first year they sent two teachers…. Our school organized classes to prepare the students for attending Aintab College. Shortly thereafter the First World War broke out and our plan did not succeed”. [54]

The lack of a local middle or high school did not discourage youngsters from seeking further education elsewhere. Although the exact number of outgoing students may never be determined, a list of seventy such cases provides us with information regarding their departure time, provenance, and destination. About 75 percent departed between 1900 and 1914, attesting to a growing interest in education in fin de siècle Musa Dagh. Of the total 67 students, 36 or 53.7 percent originated from Bitias; 13 students or 19.4 percent from Yoghun Oluk; 10 students or 14.9 percent from Kabusiye; 5 students or 7.5 percent from Haji Habibli; and the remaining 3 students or 4.5 percent from Kheder Beg and Vakef. Significantly, 18 of those who left or about 27 percent were girls, not a small feat considering the underprivileged social status of females in general.

A number of students went to Marash, Tarsus, Kilis, Aleppo, Jerusalem, Beirut, Aintura (in Mount Lebanon), Constantinople, and the United States. The majority, however, elected three destinations: Aintab, Kesab, and Bursa (to attend the Sericulture Institute, as discussed in Musa Dagh - Sericulture). Approximately one-third enrolled at the Central Turkey College (commonly referred to as Aintab College) and the Girls’ Seminary, both American missionary institutions of higher learning in Aintab, Aleppo province. The missionaries, themselves, recruited most of the enrollees. Lucile Foreman reported in 1897: “My principal object in going [to northwestern Syria] was to bring our [girls’] school and that part of the [missionary] field into closer contact. Of late years very few girls come to us from that region, and I was anxious to interest the parents in sending their children. Another help in that direction was the visit of two of our teachers to Bitias and Yoghoonolook. We brought three girls from there and hope to have more next year.” [55] In 1906, three of the total 146 students or 2 percent attending Central Turkey College were from Bitias, Haji Habibli, and Yoghun Oluk. [56] The following year “four girls from this [Bitias] village want to come to the [Girls’] Seminary and several boys have prepared for [Central Turkey] College.” [57] And in 1913, “the [Protestant] teacher [of Bitias] seems to have awakened a thirst of knowledge, and has sent in the names of six pupils who wish to come to the Seminary next year.  As all of them are very poor we can take only two of the girls.” [58]

Interestingly, some Musa Dagh youths studying at Central Turkey College formed a society called the Armenian Students Association of Svedia. Its “sacred goal” ունինք was “to civilize and flourish” the native mountain by the pen as “our weapon” and paper as “the battlefield.” [59] The group’s activities included correspondence with compatriots enrolled elsewhere, dramas, and a campaign in Musa Dagh to persuade more parents to send their children for higher education. [60]

A number of students from Musa Dagh enrolled at the two Protestant high schools in Kesab.  One of the enrollees, Yeremia Renjilian, who went on to become an osteopathic physician in the United States, detailed the composition of the Musa Dagh learners at Kesab before the 1909 massacres as follows: “I was attending the American high school, at the age of fifteen with my younger brother and sisters [sic], Mihran thirteen and Victoria, eleven years of age, and other cousins and relatives, seven in all from our town, Bitias….” [61] Speaking of the new applicants and continuing students from Musa Dagh after the carnage, the resident missionary at Kesab wrote:

“They begged of me to take four of their boys from three families and get them on, so they could be received in Tarsus, or Aintab College, if possible.  They are such bright boys, I could not say no.  I took them.  Then there are their girls who were with me before the massacres.  One is in our class which will finish this year, and when she is finished here, can teach and help her family….

One of the boys is her brother.  Another girl who was with me before the massacre and whose father was well-to-do then, have lost everything, so they scarcely have bread to eat, begged to come again, and at least get [a certificate] so that she could teach, so I took her.  The third comes for teacher’s training, I am planning to give, so she will be able to teach next year in their primary school”. [62]

The intellectual development of Musa Dagh Armenians traversed a long and arduous road. Despite the difficulties, when compared with the rampant ignorance that prevailed in mid-nineteenth century, education had made some palpable strides by World War I. The statistical evidence is clear. Of people born between 1890 and 1900, as much as 82 percent was illiterate and 18 percent had received primary education. In comparison, only 54 percent of those born between 1901 and 1910 did not know how to read and write, while 41 percent had attended grammar school, 4 percent six-year school, 0.8 percent intermediate (or middle) school, and 0.2 percent high school and beyond. [63] That being said, a final observation is in order. As it will be discussed, the three confessional groups pursued education for the sake of promoting literacy, gaining adherents and or preserving national identity. Their curricula, however, missed practical subjects tailored around local natural resources and existing technological advances that could strengthen and diversify the economy to alleviate rampant misery. Imparting general knowledge, delivering sermons and or distributing relief in and of themselves were not solutions.

Sources: Interview with Krikor Keghuni, January 29, 1989, North Hollywood, California; Keghuni, "Im gyanki husherits," I, pp. 64-69; Shrikiani (avazani anun Yesayi)," unpublished MS, pp.63-65; Sherbetjian, "Badmutiun svedahayeru," pp. 40-41; AGBU, Deghegakir 3rd shrchani, p.68; "Jebel I Musayi hayapnag kiughere," pp.914-915, 944; "Giligian mortsvadz angiunner," pp. 1232-1233; Asbarez, April 27, 1911, April 18, 1911; Piuzantion, December 8, 1906; Punch, June 6, 1898, July, 1898.

Sources: ABCFM, ABC: Letters and Papers addressed to the Board, vol. 287, Mission to Central Turkey, Supplementary Tabular View South Armenia Mission, 1860, No. I, 1862, No. II 1863, No. II 1865, No. II 1866, No. II 1867, No. II 1868, No. II 1869, No. II 1870, No. II 1871; 16.9.5, vol. 6, Lucien Adams to N.G. Clark, Statistics of Estimates for Aintab Station, C.T. Mission. November 5, 1884; section 22, 1888; section 93, Tabular View of School in the Aintab Field, April 1881; section 98, Aintab Station, Report of Schools and Bible Readers, received June 10, 1882; vol. 8, Myra A. Proctor to N.G. Clark, Monthly Wages of Teachers in Antioch Field, September 16, 1881; vol. 11 sections 19, 24, 34, 37, 40, 46, 49, and 55; Annual Tabular Views for the Years Ending December 31, 1890, 1891, 1893, 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1899, Aintab Station; section 28, Statistics of Estimates, Aintab Station, CTM, July 28, 1892; vol. 15, sections 113, 118, 122, 126, 131, 136, 139, 141, 146, and 150; Tables of Statistics for the Years Ending December 31, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907,  and 1909, Aintab Station, Central Turkey Mission.

Sources: Interview with Krikor Keghuni, January 29, 1989, North Hollywood, CA; interview with Yenova Bolisian Hajian, February 18, 1989, Los Angeles, CA; interview with Victoria Renjilian Sarafian, April 16 1988, Fresno, CA; interview with Marta Sherbetjian Shemmassian, December 28, 1983, Los Angeles, CA; Armen Hanisian, letter to the author, February 7, 1989; Misak/Zora Isgenderian, letters to the author, May 8, 1977, June 2, 1977; ABCFM, ABC: 16.9.5, vol. 6, Myra A. Proctor, Report of Schools and Bible Readers in Aintab Station for the Year Ending April 1st, 1882; George Filian, Armenia and Her People, pp. xiii-xvi; Isgenderian, Husher, p.45; Khrlopian, Vosgemadian. I, p.338, footnote; Renjilian, Who and Where, p.11; Jane Wingate, “Images Our Past," Ararad XXX: 1 (Winter, 1989), p. 61; Nor Avedaper, no. 26 (November 24, 1928): 205.

• [1] Dikran J. Khrlopian, Vosgemadian.  Badmutiun Mertz[avor] Arevelki Hay Aved[aranagan] Miutian (Golden Book: History of the Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East), vol. I (Beirut: Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East, 1950), p. 343.
• [2] Tavit Der Tavtiants, “Sdorakrutiun aytselutian … Perio nahankin kiughoreits” (Description of a Visit to the Villages of Aleppo Province), Arshaluys Araradian (Dawn of Ararad), no. 808 (June 24, 1867): 3; Punch (Bouquet) (Constantinople), June 26, 1899.
• [3] Boghos Madurian, “Hayreni gdurin dag” (Under the Roof of the Fatherland), in Mardiros Kushakjian and Boghos Madurian, eds., Hushamadian Musa Leran (Memorial Book of Musa Dagh) (Beirut: Atlas Press, 1970), p. 483.
• [4] American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) Archives, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA,  ABC: 16.9.5, vol. 6, C.S. Sanders, Report of Aintab Station for the Year Ending May 25, 1887. 
• [5] Punch, October 7, 1889.
• [6] Punch, July 11, 1898, December 25, 1899.
• [7] Ibid., April 11, 1898, June 26, 1899.
• [8] Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Deghegakir 5rt shrchani (1 Mayis-31 Tegd[emper] 1910) (Report of the 5th Period [1 May-31 December 1910]) (Constantinople: N. p., n.d.), pp. 34-35, 68; Mik[ael] Natanian, “Hayots Miatsial Engerutiunk Giligio mech.  Lusapanutiun me” (The United Societies of Armenians in Cilicia: An Elucidation), Baykar nor darvo patsarig (Special New Year Issue of Baykar) (Boston: Baykar, 1947): 62-63.  
• [9] Punch, June 6, 1898.
• [10] Armenian Prelacy of Aleppo (APA) Archives, Aleppo, Syria, Section A, File 7, Incoming Correspondence: Antioch, 1909-1939, M[ardiros] S. Misakian to Prelate Bedros [Nergararian], December 21, 1897. Although the file dates are 1909-1939, this particular letter from 1897 is inserted therein.
• [11] Ibid.
• [12] Ibid.
• [13] Punch, June 6, 1899.
• [14] “Giligian mortsvadz angiunner” (Forgotten Corners of Cilicia), Arevelian Mamul (Oriental Press), no. 50 (December 6, 1906): 1,232; Piuzantion (Byzantium) (Constantinople), December 8, 1906.
• [15] Piuzantion, April 27, 1911.
• [16] Asbarez (Arena) (Fresno), August 18, 1911.
• [17] Punch, June 6, 1898.
• [18] “Giligian mortsvadz angiunner,” Arevelian Mamul no. 50 (December 6, 1906): 1,232; Piuzantion, December 8, 1906.
• [19] National Archives of the Republic of Armenia (NAA), Yerevan, Armenia, Collection (fund) 57, Index (tsutsag) 2, Work/Document (kordz), 18-28, Fr. Arsen Der Arakelian and Vartan Varteresian to Catholicos of All Armenians Madteos II Izmirlian, December 18/31, 1909.
• [20] Ibid.
• [21] APA Archives, Section D, File 41, 1910-1915, Adenakrutia dedr Kaghakagan Zhoghovo (Minutes of the Prelacy Civic Council Meetings), minutes of the May 6, 1910 session.  
• [22] NAA. Collection 57, Index 2, Work/Document 999, Vartan Varteresian to Catholicos of All Armenians Kevork V Sureniants, March 16/29, 1913.
• [23] Ibid.
• [24] Yeznig Boyajian, Badgerner Musa Daghi tiutsaznerkutenen (Scenes from the Heroic Epic of Musa Dagh) (Beirut and Toronto: Atlas Press, 1973), p.13.
• [25] Boghos Madurian, “Hayreni gdurin dag” (Under the Roof of the Fatherland), in Kushakjian and Madurian, Hushamadian, p. 486; Kushakjian and Madurian, Hushamadian, p. 561; Misak/Zora Isgenderian, Letters to the author, April 26, 1977, May 17, 1977.   
• [26] AGBU Archives, File 16 B, Miatsial Engerutiunk yev zanazank 1909-1915 (United Societies and Miscellaneous [Papers]) 1909-1915, V. Rev. Shahe Kasbarian to the Chairman and Members of the United Societies Board of Directors, June 3, 1911.
• [27] APA Archives, Section D, File 40, 1906-1910, Adenakrutia dedr Kaghakagan Zhoghovo (Minutes of the Prelacy Civic Council Meetings), balance sheet dated December 31, 1909.  The decision by the Prelacy to donate money was made in November. 
• [28] Ibid., minutes of the March 11, 1910 session.  The minutes also state that “(the latter [27 liras] has not been sent at all).”  It is not clear whether it was the government or the Aleppo Prelacy Civil Council which did not send the money.
• [29] AGBU Archives, File 16 B, V. Rev. Kasbarian to the Chairman and Members of the United Societies Board of Directors, June 3, 1911.
• [30] Punch, April 11, 1898, July 11, 1898.  The parish council consisted of Atam Atamian (chairman), Apraham Shemmassian, Kabriel Shemmassian, Hagop Kushakjian, Hagop Bidanian, and Bedros Tenanian.  The board of trustees consisted of Boghos Tashjian, Hovhannes Kalian, Boghos Boyajian, and Hagop Chaparian. 
• [31] Punch, November 28, 1898.
• [32] Ibid., April 10, 1899.
• [33] “Giligian mortsvadz angiunner,” Arevelian Mamul no. 50 (December 6, 1906): 1,232; Piuzantion, December 8, 1906.
• [34] Piuzantion, April 27, 1911.
• [35] “Vijagakrutiun Jabal Musayi hay kiugherun” (Survey of the Armenian Villages of Musa Dagh), in M. Ajemian, M. Siserian, and Y. Vosgerichian, comps, Suriahay Daretsuyts (Syrian Armenian Almanac), 2nd year (Aleppo: “Araks” Printing-P. Topalian, 1925), p. 241; Piunig (Phoenix) (Beirut), February 14, 1925; Aztag (Factor) (Beirut), July 9, 1927.
• [36] Armen Hanisian, letters to the author, September 26, 1977, October 1, 1977; Armenian National Harach-K. Giulbengian College Archives, Anjar, Lebanon, File Zanazan tghtagtsutiunner (Miscellaneous Correspondence), Zakaria Hanisian, Mihran Serekian, and Hagop Sarkahian to the Anjar Church Building Committee, 7-3-1961. The organization’s official seal at the bottom of the letter indicates the year 1914.
• [37] ABCFM, ABC: 16.9.5, vol. 19, John Merrill to Enoch F. Bell, May 21, 1907.
• [38] “Jebel i Musayi hayapnag kiughere” (The Armenian-Inhabited Villages of Musa Dagh), Avedaper (Herald) (Constantinople) 63:39 (September 24, 1910): 914-15.
• [39] Piuzantion, September 8, 1910.
• [40] AGBU, Deghegakir 5rt shrchani, p. 68.
• [41] Ibid.
• [42] Haygagan Parekordzagan Enthanur Miutian Vosgemadiane, 1906-1913 (The Golden Book of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, 1906-1913) (Cairo: AGBU Press, [1913?]), p. 108.
• [43] Hagop Cholakian, private papers, Aleppo, Syria (now Yerevan, Armenia), Mikael Natanian to Aleppo Prelacy Locum Tenens Fr. Harutiun Yesayian, August 19/September 1, 1911.
• [44] Punch, June 6, 1898; “Giligian mortsvadz angiunner,” Arevelian Mamul no. 50 (December 6, 1906): 1,232-33; Piuzantion, December 8, 1906; “Jebel i Musayi hayapnag kiughere,” Avedaper 63:39 (September 24, 1910): 914-15.
• [45] Piuzantion, April 27, 1911.
• [46] Miutiun (Union) (Cairo) no. 18 (June, 1913): 91.
• [47] Movses Shrikian, “Hushakrutiun Movses Av. Khn. Shrikiani (avazani anun Yesayi) (Memoirs of the Archpriest Movses Shrikian [Baptismal Name Yesayi]), unpublished manuscript, Montebello, CA, p. 64.
• [48] [Boghos], Mukhtasar Joghrafia (Concise Geography) (Constantinople: Hagop Boyajian Press, 1877), pp. 5-8. The textbook was originally published in Armenian the year before.  See [Boghos], Hamarod tasakirk ashkharhakrutian hartsmamp yev badaskhaniov i beds tbrotsats (Concise Geography Textbook with Questions and Answers for School Needs) (Constantinople: A. Hagop Boyajian Press, 1876).
• [49] Turkey, BOA, A.MKT.MHM.1320.B.2, Aleppo Governor to the Ministry of Education, with copies to the ministries of Information, Justice, and Millets [confessional groups], August, 1914.  See also A.MKT.MHM.549.1.4.1320.B2.; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.3; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.5; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.6; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.7; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.8; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.13; A.MKT.MHM.549.1.14. 
• [50] Punch, April 11, 1898, June 6, 1898, December 25, 1899; Piuzantion, June 23, 1898.
• [51] ABCFM, ABC: 16.9.5, vol. 16, John E. Merrill, Annual Report—Aintab Station, July 1901-June 1902.
• [52] Zakaria Bzdigian, Giligian gsgidzner.  Vaverakrer Giligio gatoghigosagan tivanen, 1903-1915 (Cilician Woes: Documents from the Catholicosate of Cilicia Archives, 1903-1915) (Beirut: Hraztan Press, 1927), pp. 41-43.
• [53] Asbarez, October 1, 1909.
• [54] Harry H. Serian, The Life and Experiences of Rev. Harry H. Serian (Haroutiune Nokhoudian): An Autobiography (Beirut: Kalfayan Publishing House, 1968), p. 23.
• [55] ABCFM, ABC: 16.9.5, vol. 12, Foreman to Smith, September 29, 1897.
• [56] Ibid., vol. 16, John Merrill, Report of Central Turkey College, Aintab, for the Year Ending June 21, 1906.
• [57] Ibid., Isabel J. Merrill, Report of Woman’s Work in Aintab Station (Oorfa and Kessab Not Being Included), 1906-1907.
• [58] Ibid., ABC: 16.9.6, vol. I, Foreman, W.B.M. Education, copied July 28, 1913.
• [59] Hapet M. Isgenderian, Kertvadzner yev artzag echer (Poems and Prose Pages) (Beirut: G. Donigian Press, 1959), p. 35.
• [60] Manuel Beylerian, “Hapet M. Isgenderiani giankn u kordze (hamarod agnarg)” (The Life and Work of Hapet M. Isgenderian [A Brief Survey]) Hnchag (Bell) (London) no. 3 (March, 1935), n.p., no. 4 (April, 1935), n.p., no. 7 (July, 1935), n.p.; Isgenderian, Husher, p. 45; Zora Isgenderian, letters to the author, May 8, 1977, June 2, 1977.  According to Zora Isgenderian, the Association was formed in 1910, whereas Beylerian mentions the year 1912.  The membership included Hapet M. Isgenderian (founder), Sarkis A. Renjilian, Sarkis Keosheian, H. Abajian, M. Kheyunian, Apraham Tavitian, Sarkis Ghazarian, a certain Khachadur, and others.  Had World War I not started, two females would also have joined the Association, they being Sima Keshishian and Victoria Renjilian, both from Bitias.
• [61] Yeremia Renjilian, Who and Where ([Asheville, NC]: N.p., n.d.), p. 11.  This is a small booklet.
• [62] The Friend of Armenia no. 44 (Winter, 1911): 52.
• [63] Verzhine Svazlyan, Musa Ler (Musa Dagh) (Yerevan: Academy of Sciences of the SS Republic of Armenia, 1984), p. 8.