Museum Exhibits, Speaker, to Focus on Armenian Genocide

In 1990, the 75th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Massachusetts legislature officially designated April 24 as a Day of Remembrance for the million and a half Armenians killed in the first genocide of the twentieth century. The Commonwealth has long been home to one of the nation's largest and most vibrant Armenian communities. Indeed, the first Armenian church in America was in Worcester.

Starting in the 19th century, religious missionaries from Franklin built ties to Armenian communities in the Ottoman Empire. Later, Armenians began arriving in Franklin, establishing farms and businesses as well as Camp Haiastan, one of the oldest summer camps for children of Armenian descent in North America, still located on Summer Street.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Franklin Historical Museum will delve into this history. During regular Saturday hours (10-1) there will be a short film about the genocide and the world events that surrounded it as well as exhibits of newsclippings about the local Armenian community in the 20th century and the two Congregational women who devoted their careers to helping Armenians in Turkey in an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment.

During the Silent Saturday film showing, starting Saturday at 6 pm, there will be a showing of the remaining portions of a "lost" 1919 feature film on the genocide, called Ravaged Armenia. Following that, a 1915 American film, The Captive, set in the Balkans, tells of the impact of war and how a Christian woman and a Turkish POW sought to preserve their humanity and find happiness. It is not directly related to the genocide theme but offers a contemporary treatment of a nearby part of the world.

On Sunday, during regular 1-4 hours, Franklin native Mark Minichelli will discuss the Armenian Genocide and share video clips of his late grandmother, Helen Boghosian, sharing her story of survival.