ARIT Programs to Celebrate the American Semiquincentennial!
DOCUMENTING AMERICAN BIOGRAPHIES IN TÜRKİYE ARIT will post online the personnel files of more than 1,600 individual Americans who worked in Türkiye during the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries. The records provide information on the lives of many missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions who worked in the “Near East,” or Ottoman Türkiye. The individuals include educators, medical and agricultural professionals, and the leaders and staff of the American Board. The records are important to US history and valuable for American family members, genealogists, and historians. Other accessible documents, such as diaries, photographs, and correspondence, are connected with these individuals.
To build the metadata and post the documents online, $15,000
Professors of the Anatolia College at Merzifon, dressed in various disciplines, 1912
DISCOVERING AMERICAN HERITAGE IN TÜRKİYE. A curated blogpost highlighting historic American individuals and institutions in Türkiye. Drawing on the American Board missionary archive, the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery records, and other sources to produce popular historical posts of broad general interest. Examples may include:
- The American role in introducing the concept and institution of “kindergartens” in Türkiye
- The creation of “American Arabic” in İzmir, a typeface that transformed Arabic printing and publishing in the nineteenth century
- The story of the “Smyrna Rest,” a bar on the İzmir waterfront founded by an American missionary that promoted piety and sobriety
- The establishment of Türkiye’s first natural history museum at the American College in Merzifon (northern Türkiye)
To set up the blog online and develop content and publish the posts, $12,000
THE EMORY H. NILES and ARTHUR E. SUTHERLAND EXPEDITION TO EASTERN ANATOLIA, 1919 Commissioned by the American Committee for Relief in the Near East (ACRNE, later the Near East Relief), Emory H. Niles and Arthur E. Sutherland were the first Americans (indeed, the first Westerners) to enter eastern Anatolia after WWI. They traversed the eastern section of the Anatolian peninsula, recording the conditions and communities they found. Vivid, detailed, and analytical, their journal accounts, maps, and images provide a singular record of the region at the time. The project will present the journals and photo album as a publication. An exhibition in Istanbul and online will complement and promote the publication.
To publish the album and mount the exhibition and to process and post the archive documents, $40,000
Portrait of Arthur E. Sutherland, Jr. 1919 in his Near East Foundation Uniform
AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN TÜRKİYE ARIT will host an illustrated roundtable discussion with the directors of US archaeological excavation and survey projects. The panel will present the more than 100 years of American archaeology in Türkiye, the accomplishments of American archaeologists, and their contribution to history. The projects include six World Heritage Sites of Aphrodisias, Çatal Höyük, Gordion, Nemrut Dagı, Sardis, Troy, as well as other US projects including Tarsus, Tayinat, Zincirli, and the coastal underwater archaeology expeditions.
Online roundtable and web presentation, $7,000
PROTECTING CULTURAL HERITAGE, BUILDING AMERICAN SECURITY In 2021, the US and Türkiye signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to prevent the trafficking of cultural objects. Such trafficking may support other criminal and terrorist activities. In collaboration with the US Embassy and the Turkish Ministry of Culture, ARIT will present a program to enhance the security of Turkish cultural heritage using technology to protect sites and museums.
To develop and present the program, host participants, provide technical support and publications, $75,000
RESTORING AMERICAN HISTORY IN TÜRKİYE: The Feriköy Protestant Cemetery Project. Land for the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery was deeded to representative western nations by the Sultan Abdülmecit II in 1857. Established in 1859,The cemetery is divided into sectors by nation. The US sector contains the greatest number of US citizens interred anywhere in Türkiye and is one an important US heritage site. With the US Embassy, the project will complete the restoration of the historic part of the American section. The project will also present stories about the prominent Americans buried in the cemetery and their involvement in and contributions to local society and American interests.
Conservation and publication, $100,000
A HISTORY OF US – TURKISH RELATIONS: Politics and Culture An ARIT conference with US and Turkish scholars and diplomats to celebrate the American Turkish encounter, looking at early interactions, the formation of diplomatic relations in the 19th century, and the modern political and military ties. Throughout this history is an ongoing engagement between the two countries in the educational, social, and cultural realms.
- Early American travelers and merchants
- American missionaries in the Near East (Ottoman Turkiye)
- Establishment of the diplomatic missions in Turkiye and the US (1831)
- WWI – Near East Relief, renewal of ties with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1927)
- The Korean War, the Peace Corps, the US military bases in Turkiye
For travel, hosting, hospitality, technical support, $25,000
The Marshall Plan in Turkiye, exhibit at Haydarpasa Station, 1951
