Arlington, Mass. (19 March 2000)—In the sumptuous lakeside surroundings of the Armenian Cultural Foundation here, Stina Katchadourian brought to life the story of Theresa Huntington Ziegler, a missionary in the Kharpert region of the Ottoman Empire from 1898 to 1905. Theresa’s daughter, Carol Peck, and sixty guests were present for the talk.

Carol Peck and Stina Katchadourian

Confessing not to be a historian (she is an accomplished writer), Katchadourian explained how she chanced across some of Theresa’s letters in the Houghton Library, Cambridge, Mass, and found their style and content energetic and lively. Her curiosity aroused by the fourteen letters she found on file, Katchadourian managed to trace Theresa’s daughter, Carol Peck, who discovered more of her mother’s correspondence in their New Hampshire home. Having arranged the letters in chronological order, Peck handed them to Katchadourian, who began to write the heartwarming story that became Great Need over the Water. Echoing the passion and vigor with which Theresa wrote her reports from the Ottoman Empire, Katchadourian’s lecture was precise and entertaining. Katchadourian filled in the background of Theresa Huntington’s early life and then her role as a missionary.

Theresa was born in Illinois; her family settled in Massachusetts, where Theresa was educated. She began teaching in Woburn but was unhappy as she was becoming "severe and vinegary as an old schoolma’am." For women in the United States at the time, there were few opportunities for professional work, but there was a growing interest in foreign climes and a desire to spread "U.S. civilization" therein. Theresa’s decision to follow the route previously trodden by her brother was not accepted kindly in her household. It was at this time that reports in the Missionary Herald exposed the truth about what was happening to the Armenians in Kharpert through massacre. Hence the "great need over the water," which became the title of Katchadourian’s book, was the inspiration for Theresa’s move to the Ottoman Empire. Theresa was not alone there; almost a third of all U.S. missionaries were working in the Ottoman Empire—mostly with Christian Armenians, having failed in their attempts to convert Jews and Muslims. The missions eventually provided education from kindergarten through to theological colleges. These were eventually destroyed in the Genocide of 1915.

Katchadourian talked about the missionary movement before commenting on the content of Theresa’s wonderful letters. Theresa was very complimentary toward her Armenian girls, who she found to be quick-witted and intelligent.

Harpoot

Theresa was also fascinated by the touring missionaries and by the twelve Armenian Bible women who knew the text of the book by heart. The lessons provided for the Armenians by the missionaries were sophisticated, and were taught in both English and Armenian—which Theresa had begun to learn. Euphrates College in Kharpert was very important and on its commencement in 1901, the opening ceremony was attended by several Turkish dignitaries. President Roosevelt assured the missionaries of support for the college and up until 1905, when Theresa returned to the United States, it seemed as though the college would be a cornerstone of education and Westernization for many future Armenians.

Theresa resigned from the missionary board on her marriage to Charles Ziegler. It was with great regret that the board let her go, but as Stina Katchadourian suggested throughout her lecture, Theresa was a headstrong individual with a mind of her own.

Stina Katchadourian’s talk ended on a somber note. She visited Kharpert recently and found that nothing remains of the station as a result of the Armenian Genocide and a subsequent earthquake. Likewise nothing remains of the missionaries or of the station in the memories of modern-day Turks. Theresa Huntington Ziegler’s correspondence therefore remains a reminder of a time before tragedy struck the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire, and as evidence of a population that simply vanished.

This talk was a resounding success as the audience engaged the speaker in a lively question and answer debate. The organizers, the Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA) should be congratulated for organizing such an enlightening talk by Stina Katchadourian on Armenian life in the late Ottoman Empire.

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