Echoes from Ancient Leaves
OPINION By Rachel Melikian Remembering the Past Why should we remember the past, the Armenian Genocide, April 24, 1915? Several elected officials, lawyers, and hostesses raised the question this year and delivered a trite response, although good, during a remembrance ceremony marking the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, […]
The King said… They Shall Not Perish
OPINION by Rachel Melikian President Calvin Coolidge and the World’s Biggest Hand-Woven Carpet We leave history behind as time passes. Motion pictures move us while books educate us and documentaries inform us, and a picture is worth a thousand words, as the adage says. A 1930 photograph shows little orphaned children huddled together to create […]
OPINION: An Enigma of Gold, Water, Oil, and the Armenian Genocide, plus the 2020 Artsakh War
By Rachel Melikian We would like to know what the reason for committing genocide is, whether it’s about the oil or the gold, or it’s about Noah’s Ark that landed on Mount Ararat after the Great Flood in the Armenian Highland, or perhaps it’s about Jesus Christ and the first Christian nation. World, we need […]
The Story of the Armenian Van Cat
By Rachel Melikian Cats are one of mankind’s best friends, and many cultures have stories about how cats came to be so revered. Armenian lore says that the Van cat came down to the Armenian Highland on Noah’s Ark. Grandma Armenia’s cat is beautiful. They are one of the most unique cats, with white fur, […]
A Historical Glimpse on the Centennial of Wilsonian Armenia
— OPINION — By Rachel Melikian A landmarked historical map carrying the Great Seal of the United States of America, affixed with the signature of the U.S. President, is 100 years old as of November 22, 2020. It was created under the Treaty of Sèvres, signed on August 10, 1920. President Woodrow Wilson arbitrated the […]
For 2020, a Virtual Vigil for Armenia’s 1.5 million Sanctified Martyrs
By Rachel Melikian The night before the Armenian Genocide commemoration on April 24 there is a candlelight vigil, but this year, 2020, the commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was different. It was virtual, without any marches in Little Armenia, or publicly held candlelight vigil nights, due to the novel Coronavirus global […]
The Mysterious Trunk and the Armenian Genocide
By Rachel Melikian A Canadian woman, Wendy Elliott, became a graphic designer because she liked building things, and solving puzzles and mysteries in her childhood. She later became a design instructor in colleges in Ontario out of her love for education; she also had a love for history. Elliott’s interest in history and puzzles took […]
Aurora’s Silent Prayers
By Rachel Melikian An orphaned unknown teenage girl, the greatest, bravest woman in history, miraculously arrived alone in the United States 101 years ago, after three and a half years of wandering on foot from her hometown in Western Armenia. She had escaped slavery and a harem after her entire village had been massacred by […]
MGM and The Forty Days of Musa Dagh
By Rachel Melikian What do Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Franz Werfel, Clark Gable, Sarky Mouradian, and Sylvester Stallone have in common? They were fascinated by the Armenian heroism explored in Franz Werfel’s book, “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.” This literary-historical gem was published in 1933, translated into 18 languages, and instantly became a national and international […]
“Eat the Peas”
America, We Thank You By Rachel Melikian On Oct. 29 this year 405 Congress members struck a historic bipartisan vote for the house resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide of 1915 to 1923. The H. Res, 296 strives to “commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance.” Sadly, some of the histories of the Americans’ […]