Armenian Library and Museum of America
Encyclopedia
Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA), located in Watertown
, Massachusetts
, United States
, is an institution that has the largest collection of Armenian artifacts in North America
.
, a group of talented Greater Boston
Armenian-Americans banded together to form ALMA to collect and preserve these books and artifacts. From humble beginnings in two rooms rented in 1972 in a church parish house in Belmont
, ALMA grew and expanded into a Watertown church's 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) basement and opened to the public in 1985.
In 1988, ALMA was able to buy and remodel the former Coolidge Bank and Trust Building at 65 Main Street in Watertown. After being opened to the public as the Armenian Library and Museum of America, the building was dedicated to the memory of Stephen P. Mugar
and Marian G. Mugar, his wife.
, as well as the Armenian International Women's Association ("AIWA") and Project SAVE Armenian Photographic Archives.
As a repository for heirlooms, the collections now represent a major resource for Armenian studies and for preservation and illustration of Armenian heritage. ALMA is the only independent Armenian museum in the diaspora funded solely through contributions of individual supporters. An active board of trustees and volunteer base augment the museum’s four-member staff.
The collections contain over 20,000 artifacts, including:
. It also holds a significant number of periodicals.
The library is home to the Herbert Offen Oriental Carpet Research Library Collection, one of the most extensive collections of literature on oriental carpets in the United States. The Offen Family's generous gift includes both the books in the Herbert Offen Collection, as well as funding of acquisitions of new, recently published and antiquarian works related to the literature of rugs and carpets.
The Herbert Offen collection of over 2,500 volumes extends beyond the narrow focus on the types and development of Oriental rugs, and encompasses broader issues including the social implications of rug collecting, symbolism and theory, care and aesthetics, the commercial marketing and business of rugs, economic and domestic structures in carpet production, historical and contemporary use of rugs, and other textile traditions closely related to rugs.
Watertown, Massachusetts
The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is an institution that has the largest collection of Armenian artifacts in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
History
In 1971, alarmed by the growing loss and destruction of Armenian books and artifacts brought to this country by immigrants from ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, a group of talented Greater Boston
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
Armenian-Americans banded together to form ALMA to collect and preserve these books and artifacts. From humble beginnings in two rooms rented in 1972 in a church parish house in Belmont
Belmont, Massachusetts
Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The population was 24,729 at the 2010 census.- History :Belmont was founded on March 18, 1859 by former citizens of, and land from the bordering towns of Watertown, to the south; Waltham, to the west; and Arlington, then...
, ALMA grew and expanded into a Watertown church's 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) basement and opened to the public in 1985.
In 1988, ALMA was able to buy and remodel the former Coolidge Bank and Trust Building at 65 Main Street in Watertown. After being opened to the public as the Armenian Library and Museum of America, the building was dedicated to the memory of Stephen P. Mugar
Stephen P. Mugar
Stephen P. Mugar, 1901-1982, founder of the Star Market chain of supermarkets in New England, philanthropist and most prominent member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston, was born March 5, 1901, in Kharpert in the former Ottoman Empire now Turkey, of Armenian parents and died October 16, 1982,...
and Marian G. Mugar, his wife.
Building description
ALMA's present home is a four-story building plus basement containing approximately 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²). ALMA occupies all of the basement, the first and second floors, most of the third floor and has its library on the fourth floor. The building also houses the United States offices of the Armenia Tree ProjectArmenia Tree Project
Armenia Tree Project is a non-profit organization based in Watertown, Massachusetts, United States, and Yerevan, Armenia founded in 1994 by Carolyn Mugar to promote Armenia's socioeconomic development through reforestation....
, as well as the Armenian International Women's Association ("AIWA") and Project SAVE Armenian Photographic Archives.
Museum facilities
Bedoukian Hall is ALMA's main exhibit gallery. There are several smaller side galleries as well as the Contemporary Art Gallery and Terjenian-Thomas Art Gallery on the 3rd floor. Other facilities include the research library, studio space, offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, a 220-seat auditorium and a gift shop.There are many galleries:)Museum collections
Armenian Museum of America (subdivision of ALMA) holds one of the largest and most diverse holding of Armenian cultural artifacts outside of Armenia. The Museum maintains an active program of changing exhibits for the public to provide new experiences for returning visitors and to showcase the wide range of materials in the collection. The museum averages 14 different exhibits annually.As a repository for heirlooms, the collections now represent a major resource for Armenian studies and for preservation and illustration of Armenian heritage. ALMA is the only independent Armenian museum in the diaspora funded solely through contributions of individual supporters. An active board of trustees and volunteer base augment the museum’s four-member staff.
The collections contain over 20,000 artifacts, including:
- Countless artifacts including prehistoric, Urartian, religious, ceramic, medieval illuminations and various other objects;
- Over 5,000 ancient and medieval Armenian coins;
- Over 3,000 textiles: ALMA has one of the largest Armenian textile collections outside of Armenia. The trained textile curator, Susan Lind-Sinanian, has acted as a textile consultant to various institutions. The textiles are housed in climate-controlled space in the basement of the building. There they are also photographed, documented and cataloged.
- 930 rare books; and
- 170 Armenian rugs, many of which are inscribed in Armenian. The collection includes the Arthur T. GregorianArthur T. GregorianArthur T. Gregorian, , was a Greater Boston oriental rug dealer and author of books on oriental rugs, and considered to be the world's leading collector of rare, inscribed Armenian rugs.-Early life:...
collection of Armenian inscribed rugs which he donated in 1992.
Library
Armenian Library of America (subdivision of ALMA) is home to the Mersop Boyajian Library. The Library contains over 26,000 cataloged titles on a wide range of Armenian subjects. The earliest is the Garabed Gospel of AD 1207. The library has one of the largest collections of important books on oriental rugs, and a very substantial collection, which continues to be expanded, on the Armenian GenocideArmenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. It also holds a significant number of periodicals.
The library is home to the Herbert Offen Oriental Carpet Research Library Collection, one of the most extensive collections of literature on oriental carpets in the United States. The Offen Family's generous gift includes both the books in the Herbert Offen Collection, as well as funding of acquisitions of new, recently published and antiquarian works related to the literature of rugs and carpets.
The Herbert Offen collection of over 2,500 volumes extends beyond the narrow focus on the types and development of Oriental rugs, and encompasses broader issues including the social implications of rug collecting, symbolism and theory, care and aesthetics, the commercial marketing and business of rugs, economic and domestic structures in carpet production, historical and contemporary use of rugs, and other textile traditions closely related to rugs.