1987_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1987

              Page 2
HYE SHARZHOOM
NOVEMBER 1987
Project Save
in Fresno
Old Country
Photos Displayed
by Yvonne S. Minassian
Editor
In an atmosphere that could easily be
mistaken for your grandmother's attic, Ruth
Thomasian of Project Save brought to
Fresno a slide-show, photo-display of historic
Armenian family photographs. The display
took place on May 1, 1987 and was sponsored
by the CSUF Armenian Students
Organization.
Project Save is located in Watertown,
Mass. where Thomasian has been the director
since 1975 and where she has been involved
in collecting arid documenting photos of
Armenians in the old country to be displayed
at a later time in museums or at lectures.
Formerly a third-grade teacher, Thomasian
fell into a theatrical costume design job which
led to her interest in costumes and styles of
particular eras. Thomasian's theatrical job
required extensive research of costumes dating
back to very early history, before a costume
was to be made for a play or performance. This
stress on detail was key to duplicating and
projecting as true as possible, a costume of a
given era.
The actual process of collecting these
precious photos is a long and tedious one.
Thomasian borrows either the negative or
original and makes her own negative, and then
returns the photo to the owner. Currently she
is obtaining photos from individuals on the
East coast only. Each donor signs a contract
A display from the "Project Save" photo collection
for use - so they understand the purpose of
Project Save, while allowing the promotion
of Armenian heritage in using these photos.
There is no time limit regarding how far back
photos can go. The earliest ones in
Thomasian's collection date back to 1868.
Today, her photos cover three generations.
A catalog sheet is filled out for every photo
to record such things as the condition of the
photograph, types of clothing worn, and
individuals' names. Thomasian works on
establishing the maiden names of the women
in the photos in addition to obtaining all the
members' birth dates and their relationship to
the photos' donor.
Thomasian's staff is comprised of
volunteers except for one high school student
she pays in order to encourage her student's
work and interest in future project work with
Armenian photos.
GIFTS TO ASP
Pr. Souren Iashian Collection
The Armenian Studies Program recendy
received a large collection of books and
archival material from the estate of the late Dr.
Souren Tashian of Seattle, Washington. The
collection includes a number of rare English
titles concerning life in Turkey prior to the
Armenian Genocide of 1915. The collection
also includes several large portraits and scenes
of Armenia.
Dr. Tashian was born in Smyrna in 1895,
the son of an Armenian Congregational
minister, the Rev. Hagop and Sophia Tashian.
He graduated from the International College of
Smyrna and received his medical education at
the University of Virginia and did post-doctoral
work at St. Mary's Hospital, London and the
graduate school of medicine at the University
of Pennsylvania.
He came to the United States as an
Armenian refugee and moved to Washington in
1924 establishing his practice in Seattle.
During the Vietnam war he and several other
local physicians brought war injured
Vietnamese cliildren to Seaide for
reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Tashian and his wife Margaret provided
a home for three Armenian students to the
United   States   tc   study   medicine   at   the
University of Virginia. In World War I he sent
packages to Armenian refugees ai Greece and
the Middle East.
Dr. Tashian died in 1979. He was an active
member of the Seattle Armenian General
Benevolent Union and was bestowed the Honor
Membership of the Union.
The Armenian Studies Program
acknowledges the humanitarian achievements
of Dr. Tashian and is pleased to be the
recipient of his library.
Sagatel Santigian Collection
The Armenian Studies Program received a
collection of Armenian language books from
the estate of the late Sagatel Santigian of
Fresno. The books were donated by his
children, Marty Santigian, Norma Kakligian,
and Arlene Santigian.
Varsenig Markarian Collection
The Armenian Studies Program received a
number of Armenian language magazines and
journals from Mrs. Varsenig Markarian of
Fresno.
The ASP thanks all donors of books,
photographs, and magazines to the Program.
These donations provide a rich source for
research in Armenian Studies.
4U3 euP^nMT
ARMENIAN ACTION
Editor:
Yvonne S. Minassian
Assistant Editor:
Linda Abrahamian
Layout/Artist:
Norayr Minassian
Photographer:
Greg Abrahamian
Contributors:
Taleen Marashian
George Injayan
Advisors:
Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian
Hye Sharzhoom  is the official publication of the CSUF Armenian Students
Organizaiton and the Armenian Studies
Program, and is funded by the Associated
Students. Articles may be reprinted
provided that Hye Sharzhoom  is acknowledged.
Hye Sharzhoom welcomes prose, poetry, articles, manuscripts, and other material from its readers. For further informa-
concerning the newspaper or the Armenian
Studies Program, call the ASP office:
(209) 294-2669.
Hye Sharzhoom  is located in the
Keats Campus Bldg. Fresno, CA 93740
(209) 294-2486
For the future, Thomasian hopes for a
network of exchange of photos all across
the U.S. as current enthusiasm for her slide-
show, photo-displays is catching on and
the demand for more photos is inevitable.
Thomasian spoke of the enthusiasm and
curiosity of her work not only from
Armenians, but also American audiences as
well. "Often the Americans have never had
entree to this kind of information as they
don't   tend   to   go   within   the   Armenian
community....so in a sense we are serving
both communities."
Funding for Project Save include
sales from an annual calendar the project
produces, made up of photos depicting the
life of peoples of an earlier time. Monies
are also received through private
donations. A book of early Armenian life
is also in the works to be announced at a
later date.
I
Dear Editor:
I am enclosing a small gift in appreciation
of Michael Masgalajian's essay in the April
issue of your paper on how to resist
assimilation. Here are seme additional
thoughts on the subject I would like to share
with your readers: Love America but don't
surrender your heritage. In fact, you would be a
more valuable American if you don't lose your
ethnic heritage. If you do, then America may
lose something too. The best answer to
assimilation is integration. Assimilation is a
mutual loss; integration is a two-way
commerce of cultures conducted in the spirit of
"learn and let-learn". Everyone wins. Sure, we
have a lot to learn from America, but let us
not deny America what it can learn from us.
For that to happen we have to know who we
are and why we have survived for as lorg as
we have. I predict that as we satisfy our
legitimate needs for material security, we will
gravitate back to our heritage to seek those
human and spiritual values that a rootless and
homogenized America cannot satisfy.
Integration not assimilation is the wave of the
future, if there is to be a future. Canada our
neighbor is ahead of the U.S. in leading the
world in this direction. The U.S. melting pot
is a thing of the past, the Canadian "mosaic of
cultures" is in. It is a model of the coming
global village on a rapidly shrinking planet.
Sincerely,
John Halajian
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.
Dear Professor Kouymjian,
Belated congratulations to you in your
receiving "Outstanding Professor of 1986" and
the Fulbright lectureship. I also extend my
best wishes on the occasion of the Tenth
Anniversary of die Armenian Studies Program
at CSUF. Of course, I have fond memories of
seeing you in Jerusalem at St. James
Armenian Cathedral., Continued success.
Sincerely,
Gary A. Kulhanjian,
Middletown, New Jersey
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Dear Dickran:
We wish to take this opportunity to
congratulate you on being selected as CSU,
Fresro's Outstanding Professor for 1986 and
for your devoted work in extending to ten great
years the Armenian Studies Program. We lIso
wish to express appreciation for your just,
generous and deserving recognition of my
sister's initiation of and contribution to the
Armenian Studies Program at CSUF.
Best wishes for a continued successful
career and service to your community.
Sincerely,
Albert and Harvey Nalbandian,
San Francisco, CA
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