We often leave Portsmouth (there are no Armenians here) or the Armenian-populated city of Watertown to interact with Armenians and listen to spoken Armenian. This time, there was an agreement to meet with Director of the Armenian Museum of America Berj Chekijian.

On November 9, while all Americans were shocked by the news about Donald Trump being elected president, sculptor Alexander Renard and I took a trip to Watertown (small Armenia).

From a distance, you admire the large and splendid four-story building located in the heart of the city, and your heart is filled with a sweet feeling and pride when you read the large and influential words ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA.

As soon as you enter the museum, you feel the air of Armenians and the warmth of items that are close to your heart. However, you feel more warmth and feel more familiar when the generous director of this wonderful place, Berj Chekijian (Chekijian has been the director of the museum for 14 years) approaches you and welcomes you directly and with a sincere smile.

I must mention with satisfaction that even though it wasn’t a working day, the director generously received us and presented the history and samples of the museum with great pleasure, without rushing and with his wonderful knowledge of Armenian. “The history of the museum dates back to 1971 when Armenian books and items were collected and stored in the church in Belmond. Over the years, the collection of the museum has grown considerably and sparked interest.

The Armenian Library and Museum of America is the only large museum outside of Armenia and is even bigger than the museums of Vienna, the Vatican and Jerusalem. Whereas the visitors used to be only Armenians living in different cities across the United States, today we also receive visitors from different countries, as well as non-Armenians of Boston.

The museum’s collection includes over 30,000 samples, including ancient and medieval Armenian coins, national costumes, Armenian rugs, items and pottery dating back to the era of the Urartu Armenian kingdom, the stories of Armenians saved from the Armenian Genocide of 1915, as well as maps, newspapers and more.”

We were very moved when we saw the layout of Deir ez-Zor, the bones of tortured Armenians, the worn out clothes taken off of a killed adolescent and preserved as a memory, as well as the Holy Book, which foreigners had kept for a long time.

The museum’s library has over 40,000 books, literary and historical articles, including unique books such as the “Bible of Karapet” (1207) brought from Cilicia. The Bible has been passed down to 39 generations before being showcased at the museum. The last person of the Ter-Karapetyan family, Julia Karapetyan, has decided to donate it to the museum.

The museum recently received the collection of portraits by Canadian photographer of Armenian descent Yusuf Karsh. They are unique portraits of Aram Khachaturian, Mother Theresa, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and Winston Churchill.

In fact, the story behind Churchill’s portrait is very interesting. When the Prime Minister of England visited Canada in 1941 to discuss his country’s participation in WWII in parliament, Karsh was supposed to take a photo of him (at the time, Karsh was the photographer of the Canadian parliament). When he invites Churchill to his studio, after preparing, he approaches Churchill at the last moment and steals his beloved cigar. The Prime Minister gets very mad, but Karsh manages to take a photo of that moment. This is how the famous photo of the angry Churchill was taken. At that moment, the Prime Minister said the following words:  “Who gave you the right?”

The museum, which is created to preserve and present the contributions that Armenians have made to history, culture and the arts over the past 3,000 years, also serves as a cultural center, and this also helps consolidate the local Armenians. Lectures are given and concerts and exhibitions are held at the Bedoukian Gallery.

In 2017, the museum plans to organize a mobile exhibition and showcase Saryan’s paintings in all the cities with Armenian communities, including Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

It was nice to know that the Armenian Library and Museum of America is in collaboration with the museums of Armenia and especially has friendly ties with Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan. Currently, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute is showcasing two samples from the Armenian Library and Museum of America.

Before we left, I told Mr. Chekijian that even though he was a mathematician, he knew the history of the Armenian people very well, to which he said the following: “When I was a child in Jerusalem, my parents would raise me to not only know the history, culture and customs of our nation, but also preserve and transmit them to the generations.”

I believe this must be the duty of every Armenian. Moreover, every Armenian needs to be able to enhance Armenian culture.

Member of the Union of Journalists of Armenia

Member of the organization of the Union of Writers of Russia in Moscow

Correspondent for Hayern Aysor Amalya Isayan