Louisiana Armenian Genocide Recognition

Louisiana legislators have recognized the Armenian Genocide on the state level. Gubernatorial proclamations as well as state and local legislation are provided below since 2004.  If you know of other documents to be added to this list – old or new – please send a note to elizabeth@anca.org. We look forward to showcasing them.

Louisiana citizens also played an active role in assisting Armenian Genocide survivors through the Congressionally mandated Near East Foundation, during the years 1915 – 1930.  Learn more about their efforts below, through research prepared by the ANCA Western Region’s “America We Thank You” program.

And finally, review our snapshot of news coverage of the Armenian Genocide in Louisiana press, as we spotlight three articles, prepared as part of the ANCA’s “Genocide Diary” project.  Check back to the Genocide Diary’s Louisiana page for new articles added on a monthly basis.

Louisiana Gubernatorial Proclamations

United States of America
STATE OF LOUISIANA
Proclamation
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
April 28, 2004

WHEREAS,  One and one half-million Christian Armenian men, women, and children were the victims of brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Government  from 1915-1923, and;

WHEREAS, the Armenian genocide and massacres of Armenian people have been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a thriving and noble civilization over 3,000 years old, and;

WHEREAS, recognition of the eighty-ninth anniversary of this genocide is crucial to guarding against the repetition of future genocide and educating people about the atrocities connected to these horrific events, and;

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Louisiana have greatly enriched our state through their leadership in business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts, and;

WHEREAS, vision loss from diabetic retinopathy is permanent and cannot be restored.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Governor of the state of Louisiana, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2004, as

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN  GENOCIDE

in the state of Louisiana.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State f Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the City of Baton Rouge, on this the 28th day of April A.D., 2004.

(SIGNED)

Governor of Louisiana
Secretary of State

Louisiana House

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 88 BY REPRESENTATIVE OURSO
2015 Regular Session

SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Commemorates the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

A RESOLUTION to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Armenian genocide

WHEREAS, a special committee was formed in Constantinople in March 1919 by a group of Ottoman Armenians who survived the Armenian genocide with the goal of organizing commemoration ceremonies dedicated to marking the anniversary of the Armenian genocide, and;

WHEREAS, the committee, known as “The April 11th Board of Ceremonial Mourning”, consisted of thirteen members including Yevphime Avetisian, Zaruhi Galamkarian, Mari Stambulian, Perchuhi Parsamian, Miss Arpiar, Tigran Zaven, Merujan Parsamyan, Hakob Siruni, Gevorg Mesrop, Tagvor Suqiasian, Barsegh Tinanian, Shahan Perperian, and Hovhannes Poghosian, and;

WHEREAS, because of the committee’s efforts, the memory of the victims of Armenian genocide was commemorated among the Armenians of Constantinople for the first time in 1919, and;

WHEREAS, Armenian writer and publicist Hakob Siruni wrote in his memoirs: “The mourning ceremony became a Since then, the 24th of April was adopted as the Day of Mourning”, and;

WHEREAS, commemoration ceremonies were intended to be held from April 11 through 18, but due to the Armenian patriarch’s illness at the time, the date was delayed by one day; Bishop Mesrop Naroian held a liturgy for the victims of the Armenian genocide April 15 through 25 in Saint Trinity Church of Bera District of Constantinople, and;

HR NO. 88

WHEREAS, the Armenian patriarch of Constantinople, Zaven Eghiaian, gave the sermon at the first observance and on this proclaimed Day of Mourning, all Armenian national colleges and shops in Constantinople were

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Armenian genocide and does hereby offer prayers for peace in the world.

DIGEST

The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent.  [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]

HR 88 Original
2015 Regular Session
Ourso

Commemorates the centennial anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Louisiana’s Support for Survivors of the Armenian Genocide

Louisiana was an integral supporter of Near East Relief (NER), the American-led campaign that quickly sparked an international response with its unprecedented humanitarian endeavor, mobilizing all segments of American citizenry including elected officials, celebrities and laypersons alike, to help rescue victims of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey from 1915-1930.

Louisiana coordinated its NER efforts through neighboring Alabama’s state office headquarters located at 2027 Age Herald Building in Birmingham.

The Tensas Gazette of St. Joseph, Louisiana in its July 29, 1921 issue published a letter from the President of the Republic of Armenia, Hamo Ohandjanian, to Charles V. Vickrey, General Secretary of Near East Relief, appealing for 50,000 tons of flour to save Armenia from starvation. Food crisis was critical due to the Turkish invasion of Armenia and the fact that 100,000 peaceful Armenian inhabitants of the cities of Kars and Sarikamish had to flee their homes and were living as refugees in the interior of Armenia.

Read the complete fact sheet prepared by America We Thank You.

The Armenian Genocide in Louisiana Press

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