August 23, 2025 • 35 mins
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Project Save Photograph Archive in Watertown. Over the years, the archive's founder, Ruth Thomasian, has worked tirelessly to collect photographs of Armenian life. These photos showcase the Armenian experience before, during, and after the diaspora, and highlight how Armenians have been able to come together in community around the globe. Executive Director Arto Vaun joins Nichole on the show this week to discuss the archive's history, mission, and plans for the next 50 years.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each and every week right here, we come together, we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It's great to have you back
with us this week. I'm Nicole Davis. This time around,
we're off to Watertown to learn all about Projects Save.
This photograph archive for decades has been collecting pieces of
(00:30):
Armenian history and carefully preserving those stories. We're talking tens
of thousands of photos and these showcase everyday life before
the Armenian diaspora and also afterwards and show how Armenians
have come together in community around the world. This year
is the archives fiftieth anniversary. They say they're just getting started.
Let's dive right into it now with the executive director,
(00:51):
Arno Vaughan. He is here with us. Ardo, thank you
so much for being here. And first off, I want
to hear more about the backstory here. Tell us how
this archive came together.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Sure well, first of all, thanks for having me, Nicole,
I appreciate it. Project Save was founded in New York
City in nineteen seventy five. Our founder, Ruth Tomasion is
actually from the Belmont area. Here, but at the time
she was living in New York, and she basically as
(01:26):
someone who cared very deeply about photography, both the taking
of photographs but the stories that those photographs tell about
everyday life. She basically kind of had an epiphany one
day and realized that there was probably a large, large,
(01:49):
large treasure trove of people's photographs in the Armenian diaspora,
and that she wanted to preserve those and to make
sure that those stories are captured and shared with future generations.
And so now fifty years later, here we are.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Wow, that's incredible that it's gone on so long. But
I'm sure you've only really been able to kind of
scratch the surface of all this material because you think
about all the people who were caught up in the
diaspora who are here in the United States and spread
out around the world. And this is a huge project here,
it is.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It is, And I think, you know, I always credit
Ruth and joke around with her that you know, well,
you know, it takes someone of a certain character and personality.
You know, when we think today in this world where
we're constantly you know, inundated with you know, these high
(02:53):
tech guys that run these big companies. You know, there's
a certain type of person that starts something that seems
a little bit out of its time or ahead of
its time, or something that not many other people have
thought about. And I think that Ruth, thank god, she
(03:14):
kind of almost didn't even realize what she was taking
on in a way, you know, because she had that
singular vision. I mean, she's basically been obsessed. This has
been her life's work. And I think she quickly as
she moved back to Boston in the eighties, you know,
(03:35):
this thing just had a life of its own because,
of course, as you say that, there were all these
people that were hungry, that were thirsting to share their stories.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Who who wanted to.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Or who felt validated that, oh my god, someone does
care about these photographs that are just sitting in the
basement and that might get.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Tossed out at some point.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
And then the other element was that, like other visionary founders,
I think Ruth, you know, on the one hand, understood
the power of photography.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
But of course nobody could have at.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That time understood that the Internet was coming, digital photography,
social media.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
So really she was doubly ahead of her time.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I mean, the idea itself was ahead of its time,
but the medium and how right now we are absolutely
living in a visual age between Instagram and you know,
everything else. So, as you say, by both starting it,
but on the other hand, not fully kind of understanding
(04:46):
what she was tapping into, we're only now, you know,
realizing what the real what the potential is that we
have for our next fifty years.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Now. Yeah, I say the Internet is the best and
the worst thing to happen to human kind, absolutely, because
you know, we all know the bad reasons why, but
the good reasons are projects exactly like this, Because I
can just think about her networking in New York back
in the seventies and eighties, talking with people who happened
(05:16):
to be part of the diaspora. No people digging in
those boxes under the bed and in the basement. But
now the reach is limitless.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You could say, that's right, that's right, and it's and
it's kind of a perfect storm or great timing, because
you know what quickly started to happen is as you say,
she started off, it's like concentric circles. Yeah, you know,
she started with the local community in Manhattan, and at
that time there were still genocide survivors. Well, first of all,
(05:46):
the immune community was still kind of quite active and more.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Embedded at the time.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
But part of that was also that there were still
genocide survivors living. And then what ended up happening was
by the time she got back to Boston, by the
time projects A became an official.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Five oh one c three word got out.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You know, next thing, you know, it wasn't just a
community based thing, you know, so it pivoted, not that
she had it, she'd ever thought of it as a
community based thing, but that's, as you say, that's how
you start, you know, to now where you know, this
is the only such archive in the world, and it's
(06:31):
the largest photography archive focused on the Armenia and diaspora globally,
you know, and of course including photographs from Armenia, from
the Ottoman Empire and so forth.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, and let's talk about the archive itself. How big
is it? I mean, we've it's the biggest we know.
How big are we talking here? And how much is
it physical versus digital?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
At this? Sure? Sure?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, let me answer the second part first, because that's
been very important to me ever since I took over
in twenty twenty one, We are not a digital archive. Yes,
that's a very important part. And it turned out that
even our hardcore supporters for decades, they weren't entirely sure
about that. There was this thought that maybe people give
(07:18):
their photographs, we digitize them, and then we give the
photographs back or something like that.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
But that's not the case. We are.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
The mission of the archive centers around the materiality of
these objects. That's the pricelessness, that's the priceless element and
the importance of these objects.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Of course we do.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Digitize them, sure, you know, to share and for research
and all that. But yeah, but it's not a digital archive.
The first question that was interesting. So as we were
entering our fiftieth anniversary this year, I started to think
because up until then, at last count, we were over
something like eighty thousand photographs, you know, hard copy photograph,
(08:04):
original photographs, And as we were coming into the fiftieth,
I was like, you know, let me touch base on that.
Is that still, you know, can we do another kind
of updated And when we sat down to do that,
we very quickly realized that it's actually well over one
hundred thousand.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Oh okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's well over one hundred thousand, and
what we're talking about there are mostly original photographs. Yeah,
we also have things like glass plates that were used historically,
you know, many many years ago, negatives, things like that,
(08:45):
but it's mostly original photographs.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I can't even imagine what it must feel like to
hold an original photo from a century ago in your
hand and knowing that this photo had to travel so
far just to end up in your hands. Tell me
what that feels like.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
That that's such a great question and a good, wonderful
observation that that's exactly it. That's exactly why Ruth started
Projects Save, and that's why fifty years later, on the
one hand, the potential ism that listen, on the other hand,
it's resonating with a whole new demographic, including many non Armenians,
(09:25):
is exactly that point, Nicole, is that you know, as
you as you said earlier about how amazing and problematic
the Internet is, Well, you know, if we think of Instagram,
if we think of other digital platforms where we're looking
at photographs, they can be very beautiful, right. I mean
(09:47):
that there's lovely photographs that are being shared on different platforms,
but they're they're transient and what I mean by that
is exactly what you know that or some can close
their account, or you know, you save it on your
computer and then you can't find it, or or even
(10:07):
the or even the watering down of the power of
that image because it's on their Facebook and then it's
on their Instagram and then it's everywhere, and then you know,
that actually takes away from the power of a photograph
as well. So when you're holding a photograph at projects saved,
let's let's take a photo.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Let's say, you know we have we have.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So many photographs of course pre Armenian genocide. But so
if you if you look at any number of those
collections that are let's say, right before the genocide, and
then you look at the ones right after the genocide,
you know, what you're holding in your hand is something incredible.
You're holding in your hand history and living history, because
(10:54):
you know the people in the If you're looking at
a photograph from let's say Constantinople, which is today is
and you're looking at a beautiful portrait of an Armenian
family in nineteen ten, eighteen ninety eight, whatever it might be,
you know, what you're holding is what they held in
their hands after that photo was produced, and you're holding
(11:19):
something that those people held in their hands, not knowing
what was about to happen. I mean, that's incredibly poignant
and powerful. And then if you flip that and you're
looking at a photograph, let's say, from nineteen twenty three,
(11:40):
of an Armenian immigrant in.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Boston, in Detroit, in.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Marseille, France, in London, in Canada, in China, in Cuba,
again you're seeing the material. You're holding a photograph that
these people had taken, that they held in their hands
and possibly sent that photograph to people back in wherever
(12:11):
their families ended up after the genocide. So now you're
seeing before a major catastrophe of the twentieth century and after,
and to have those original photographs is not just incredibly powerful,
but it keeps the voices of those people alive.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
They are the witnesses of that time.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
And now that we have AI, I think it's important
to say that with projects save, it has to be
the original photographs. That again, that's something very prescient that
Ruth understood because now one hundred years later, unfortunately a
lot of things have been repeating. You know, you had
the war, the aw abauh War Azerbadjahn invading and brutality
(13:00):
and ethnic cleansing that happened there. You have what's going
on in the Middle East. The Armenian quarter in Jerusalem,
which is one of the ancient quarters of Jerusalem many many, many,
many hundreds of years, is in a precarious situation be
rout Aleppo, the Armenians in Baghdad. I mean, so, you know,
(13:22):
in a time of ai when there are still some
forces in the world that deny genocide, deny ethnic cleansing,
deny just basic.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Historical facts.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Having original photos, I can't think of a more powerful
evident cherry narrative to combat things like that.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
So what are people using your photos for? Is it
more genealogical research, is it historical research? A little bit
of both. I mean, what are people coming into look
at your photos for?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Great question?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I would say that, you know, when I first joined
Project Save, my first thought was actually that just in general,
the photos aren't being used enough. So yeah, so I
took that as my kind of directive that you know,
you can't be the world's largest such archive. And I
felt that the photos were not being used enough, and
(14:26):
mostly because just not enough people knew about projects save
and they and they still kind of don't. That's that's
why we're so excited to share what we do now
in our fiftieth But when they are used generally, it's
research number one. So everything you know, we've our photographs
have appeared in a number of like academic books, documentaries,
(14:49):
things like that, And then there is some genealogy.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I would say those two.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Are the main things you know, in some academic slash
kind of journalism.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Of course, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Sometimes we would get you know, oh it's the commemoration
of the army and genocide. A news program is doing
a segment and they want to show some historical photographs
things like that. Since then, what I've done is a
number of initiatives where the point is that to emphasize
that this is a living archive. It's not meant to
(15:25):
be just kind of stored away in the vault and
kind of you know, forgotten about just to preserve it.
You know, the point is that it's a living archive.
So for example, we have an artist residency now, so right, yeah,
I invite an artist our first one for example, who's
(15:49):
an incredible photographer, Pavelo Romanico. His faculty at humans in Lowell.
He had come to the United States as a kid
from Russia. He came and he explored the collections we
have of the period right before and right after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, when when Armenia was a
Soviet Republic, and we're planning his exhibition post, you know,
(16:15):
his residency where he the photographs that really resonated with him.
The goal there is, you know that I give the
artists free reign and they create whatever you know, kind
of strikes them as long as it's in kind of
a dialogue. You know, it's coming from their time with
(16:35):
these photographs in our archives. So that's that's one. We
are starting to think more about how we can ourselves
begin to produce some documentaries. I mean, these are hundreds
of thousands of stories waiting to be told, and I
(16:56):
think it would behave us to find ways to bring
those to life ourselves on our website, through documentaries, through
other mediums. We do a Conversations on Photography series where
I basically invite people that I think very highly of photographers, curators, archivists,
(17:16):
and again it's not so much about projects save but
of course inevitably it has to do with cultural preservation.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Why are archives important? Why is photography important?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
What does it mean? How can we think about it?
How can it activate communities? I gave a talk at
the Watertown Public Library where the point of that talk was,
in this day and age in the United States and
elsewhere in the world, but in talking of the United States,
how can archives like projects save, underpin and re energize
(17:52):
a sense of community, ideas about democracy, ideas about empowerment
of citizens and the stories that they and their families have. Soasically,
we're doing a lot of different things now to activate
the archive. That's also really kind of re energize things.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
What also helps to re energize is the fact that
you just got some incredible donations. So tell me a
bit about those donations and what your plans are for those.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, we are very proud and thrilled to announce that we.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
About a month ago.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Or so, we received a transformational gift from an anonymous
donor in the Midwest. At the same time, it was
very fortuitous. At the same time, an anonymous donor from
New York City who in honor of her parents, donated
(18:58):
fifty thousand and at the same time, it was like
a trifecta. At the same time, I was very proud
and honored to welcome our very first trustee because I'm
also the trustees had kind of the board had kind
of gone defunct over the years, and she very generously
(19:21):
donated fifty thousand. She's a wonderful, wonderful person and also
based in New York. So really, you know, we're talking,
you know, half a million dollars here of a real pivotal,
pivotal change for projects save as you say, you know,
(19:42):
it is about these infusions. You know, I think a
lot of nonprofits they're kind of able to subsist, you know,
they do their thing, but they're constantly panicking month to
month about basic needs, operational needs. And what that does
(20:04):
is it, you know, really ties one hand behind your
back if you're in a leadership position, you know.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
So for me, it's like, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
It's hard to put together a vision and implement that
vision if at the same time, you know, you're worried
about next month or the month after that, or you
can't put together a stable.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Long term staff, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So on the one hand, I'm incredibly proud, as I
know Ruth is proud, as you should be. It's incredible
for a nonprofit to survive fifty years on a budget
that was you know, really it wasn't really keeping up
with the you know, inflation and times changing all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And what does these days?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
What does these days? Exactly?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Exactly and funnily, maybe ironically, one of the things I'd
saying the last couple of years when I took over
was exactly this idea that you know, this is a startup.
It's fifty years old, or at the time it was
becoming fifty years old, but it's a startup. You know,
the product is incredible. We have a wonderfully you know, obsessive,
(21:19):
slightly eccentric in the good ways, founder, as all startups do.
So who's given her life to this thing. And now
it was just about some capital that you know, all
startups at some point there has to be slightly larger
infusion for real breathing room and bandwidth in order to
(21:40):
all these initiatives that I've started the last number of
years that we've somehow done. But you know that was
all done on little to no budget and not in
the full ways that we envisioned them. And how would
those be sustainable?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
All that stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
So yeah, it's a real blessing that we're in this
transformational moment that I think now that also has a
way of energizing, you know, your supporters, because they even
if they always believed in an organization, and they support
you and they want you to do well and they
care very deeply, there is something to be said for
(22:22):
than leading by example, you know, when they see that,
Oh wait a minute, Okay, so now they have the vision,
they have leadership, they have a plan, and now that
plan is being backed up with resources that give you know,
there's a runway here for us.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Essentially.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah, and I think I think we're going to see
a lot of people as and we already are. We're
seeing people that are now way more interested in talking
to us about how they can be part of it.
And you know, what are the plans. And for example,
getting out of Boston, I've not been able to go
anywhere when I always knew that, you know, we have
(23:03):
to be on the ground.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I have to.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Spend some time going to other very vibrant communities like Philly,
you know, New York City, Toronto, Montreal, you name it, Detroit,
Los Angeles, San Francisco. Outside of the United States. So
I feel like now once one domino falls, now we're
(23:28):
very excited about you know, this coming year.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Absolutely as you should be for what it's worth. You
all have for fifty years. I mean you've only been
there for a few years, but you've put a lot
of work into this. You can clearly tell this is
something that's in your soul that you really put a
lot of effort and love into along with Ruth. So
what if somebody is listening and they want to help contribute,
Not just with money, although I mean we could all
(23:52):
use money, but if they have photos, if they have
no paper clippings, anything they want to give you that
might help.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I would say the first thing to do is go
do projects save dot org.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
And explore our site.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
It's a very visually engaging interactive site, and it'll give
a good idea of the scope and breath of what
we have and what we do. And then I would
say to reach out, you know, to email us, call
us and let us know what kind of photographs you have,
(24:31):
and and then we can talk about how to preserve
those photographs. The main thing I would say is, you know.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
We.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
For a long time it seemed there there ended up
being a bit of a you know, when you're talking
about people's personal photographs, obviously that's a very intimate thing,
especially when you're talking about old photographs and things like that.
I think this is in all communities, but knowing the
Armenian community, I think there was some element of well,
(25:02):
you know, why would you want my photographs? Like these
aren't famous people. Nobody knows these people, you know, they're
just photographs, right, that's the point exactly exactly, I think
when you look at it.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
And I think, by the way, that's the interesting thing
about Ruth.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Ruth is half Armenian, Okay, And I'm saying that because
Ruth her Armenian side is many many generations Armenian Americans.
So that's a pretty old American Armenian side as well.
It's not a recent immigration story. And her American side
is a very you know, they came over on the Mayflower. Yes,
(25:40):
So for Ruth, luckily she always had that mindset. Well,
of course we care about all the photographs, doesn't it.
We're not, you know, And I think that's a more
that's the American side you know in this in the
sense that that's a very American way to think that
these are all equal. There's no hierarchy here. These are
just people stories, and we care about all of them,
(26:02):
right Whereas I think for a lot of Armenian folks,
you're talking about a traumatized community who's also like a
lot of immigrant groups, they come to a new country.
You know, they kind of just want to blend in.
It's like, why do you care about this? Why do
you you know? Things like that. So what I would
(26:23):
say is to people that want to get involved, don't
self censor what you think is worth keeping not worth keeping.
You know, all the historic, beautiful photographs that Project Safe
has that people come and they see or they look
on our website and they're blown away by these beautiful
historic photographs. I always the first thing I tell them
(26:44):
is just remember the people in that photograph. Didn't they
didn't decide one day in eighteen ninety nine to say, hey,
you know guys, let's get together for a historic photograph.
That's going to look really special and it's going to
look like it's so important. In twenty twenty five, it's
(27:04):
just their family photograph. You know, those are just people.
It looks amazing to us now because it's been preserved
and over time. Like anything else you go to a museum,
you go anywhere else, or any other incredible artifact that
you can touch and see, it takes on a kind
(27:25):
of sublime, sacred of It takes on an otherness, you
know what I mean. And what I told them is
that's how your photographs are going to be one hundred
years from now, you know. So I would say for
people to reach out to not self censor what they
think we might want or not want. To just reach
(27:46):
out to us and talk to us about what they have,
and we're open to everything as long as they're original.
We are open to any photographs. For example, someone might
be our arminion, but the photographs they took h have
nothing to do with anything Armenian. Okay, right, you know,
(28:07):
so it's not the content of the photograph, you know,
as long as it has some connection to something Armenian.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Not your picnic table or something exactly, it's not. But
it's not what we're looking for.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Here, that's right. And in this day and age. Ruth
is an older example of this.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
But that's also the reason I love that someone like
Ruth founded projects say it.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
You know, this is this is never.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Meant to be a one hundred percent Armenian archive, because
that's not a sustainable thing. We're an American nonprofit, so
you know, I can't tell Ruth for example, right, I mean,
am I supposed to all the founder of projects save
we only want your.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Armenian half and I know so.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Yeah, So I think that's another thing that some people
in their Armenian community, at least there might there might
have been some confusion. There's plenty of Armenians who are
a quarter Army, they're half Armenion. Their spouse is not Ourmenion,
they're not Armenian, but their spouse is Armenian and they
care a lot about you.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Know, immigration, you know, so that's very important.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
There might be and we do have collections where it's
really gotten not much to do with our Armenians other
than one little connection somewhere, you know, especially in this
day and age. I said earlier that you know, there's
a lot of repetition unfortunately in Armenian history right now,
but really that's happening in a much larger context. We're
(29:33):
living in an age where a lot of things, unfortunately,
history is repeating itself. You know, there's a major swing
to the right in the world, and along with that
comes tremendous xenophobia, anti immigrant rhetoric, historical revisionism, and so forth,
(29:55):
and Projects Save you know, we absolutely well not shy
away from that. As a matter of fact, we double
down on that, because we wouldn't exist without those stories,
number one. And the reason we preserve those stories is
because those stories are what make the United States the
United States. Those Projects Save is one part of a mosaic,
(30:20):
the hundreds of thousands of stories that we've preserved, they
are part of a much larger mosaic of what makes
the United States an incredible country, a country that I'm
very proud of because I come from an immigrant family
and we see the ideals of the United States. We
(30:40):
believe in those ideals. We believe in all of the
best of the United States. And that means a plurality.
It means that people have an equal voice.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
And that we're all in this together.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
So I'm saying that because you know, now this is
also about I'm seeing more more people coming to Projects Safe,
connecting with Projects Safe who just care deeply about the
immigrant story because they care about their own story. Right
when you come, when you look at the the stories
of American Armenians. At Project Save, people are seeing their
(31:16):
own families, the Irish American story, the Greek American story,
the Jewish American story, the Arab American story, all of it,
and we welcome that. We want to actually kind of
what's the word, we want to build on that. So
we are starting to think about what are the ways
(31:38):
we can work with other communities that don't have a
Project Save sure, because Project Save is putting aside the
Armenian world. You know, I quickly found out when I
joined Projects Save that they're really, you know, an archive
like this doesn't exist in most other immigrant communities in
(31:58):
the US.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
They have all and of course they have collections.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
You know, there's many Irish American collections, but usually all
these or other kind of immigrant collections, but usually they're
at a museum. They are at you know, I don't know,
the Library of Congress or you know, something like that.
There isn't something that's just about the photographs and the
(32:23):
stories that go with those photographs. So I would say
that's a big thing for people to just get in touch.
Whether they're Arminion, they're not Armenian. People that care deeply
about the story of immigration, and also the people that
care deeply about the art of photography. I mean we're
(32:44):
getting more and more of that too, people that just
genuinely care about the power and the beauty of photographs.
I would say to get in.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Touch because remember that project save. What are we doing
for the next fifty years? Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (33:02):
We're not just kind of like, Okay, we're done. We
have over one hundred thousand photographs.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
We're going to be nice. We're moving on now. You
know that's work.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah, there's a lot more photographs to collect. Some of
those photographs might still be from the early twentieth century
or from the nineteenth century. However, there's things to collect now.
There's photographs from the nineties, from the eighties, right, and
the by the way, the oral histories that go with
those we have. Ruth, of course, in her foresight, had
(33:34):
done tremendous interviews while collecting the photos.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Smart So we recently.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Finished digitizing something like approximately eight to nine hundred cassette
tapes of oral histories, mostly in English, a couple in Armenian,
but mostly in English. Some of those are now up
on the website. But you know, we want to build
on those again. That's one of the things where people think, yeah,
(34:01):
but you're probably only interested in talking to like an
eighty year old no or no, you know, absolutely not.
We want the oral histories from people, people, younger, people
who have their own stories now about the seventies, the eighties,
the nineties.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Your own experience. It all counts, that's right. Projectsave dot
org again. If you want to donate, if you want
to donate photos, if you want to donate money to
keep all this great work going, projects save dot org.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
Correct, correct, and we will.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
You know now that we have our wonderful space new
space at six hundred Pleasant Street in Watertown, we've been
doing events.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
There's a gallery.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
So we also welcome folks to go on the website
sign up.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
To our mailing list.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
As we start having more events again after a little
break in the summer in September, you know, we'll start
having more events for people to join us.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Wonderful Well, Arto, thank you so much. This has been
such a great chat. I'm really loving all the work
you're doing to preserve history, so thank you for all
your efforts. It's great to have you here.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Thank you so much, Nicole, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
That is it for the show this week. Thanks again
for being here, and have a safe and healthy weekend.
Join me again next week for another edition of the show.
I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each and every week right here, we come together, we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It's great to have you back
with us this week. I'm Nicole Davis. This time around,
we're off to Watertown to learn all about Projects Save.
This photograph archive for decades has been collecting pieces of
(00:30):
Armenian history and carefully preserving those stories. We're talking tens
of thousands of photos and these showcase everyday life before
the Armenian diaspora and also afterwards and show how Armenians
have come together in community around the world. This year
is the archives fiftieth anniversary. They say they're just getting started.
Let's dive right into it now with the executive director,
(00:51):
Arno Vaughan. He is here with us. Ardo, thank you
so much for being here. And first off, I want
to hear more about the backstory here. Tell us how
this archive came together.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Sure well, first of all, thanks for having me, Nicole,
I appreciate it. Project Save was founded in New York
City in nineteen seventy five. Our founder, Ruth Tomasion is
actually from the Belmont area. Here, but at the time
she was living in New York, and she basically as
(01:26):
someone who cared very deeply about photography, both the taking
of photographs but the stories that those photographs tell about
everyday life. She basically kind of had an epiphany one
day and realized that there was probably a large, large,
(01:49):
large treasure trove of people's photographs in the Armenian diaspora,
and that she wanted to preserve those and to make
sure that those stories are captured and shared with future generations.
And so now fifty years later, here we are.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Wow, that's incredible that it's gone on so long. But
I'm sure you've only really been able to kind of
scratch the surface of all this material because you think
about all the people who were caught up in the
diaspora who are here in the United States and spread
out around the world. And this is a huge project here,
it is.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It is, And I think, you know, I always credit
Ruth and joke around with her that you know, well,
you know, it takes someone of a certain character and personality.
You know, when we think today in this world where
we're constantly you know, inundated with you know, these high
(02:53):
tech guys that run these big companies. You know, there's
a certain type of person that starts something that seems
a little bit out of its time or ahead of
its time, or something that not many other people have
thought about. And I think that Ruth, thank god, she
(03:14):
kind of almost didn't even realize what she was taking
on in a way, you know, because she had that
singular vision. I mean, she's basically been obsessed. This has
been her life's work. And I think she quickly as
she moved back to Boston in the eighties, you know,
(03:35):
this thing just had a life of its own because,
of course, as you say that, there were all these
people that were hungry, that were thirsting to share their stories.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Who who wanted to.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Or who felt validated that, oh my god, someone does
care about these photographs that are just sitting in the
basement and that might get.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Tossed out at some point.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
And then the other element was that, like other visionary founders,
I think Ruth, you know, on the one hand, understood
the power of photography.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
But of course nobody could have at.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That time understood that the Internet was coming, digital photography,
social media.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
So really she was doubly ahead of her time.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I mean, the idea itself was ahead of its time,
but the medium and how right now we are absolutely
living in a visual age between Instagram and you know,
everything else. So, as you say, by both starting it,
but on the other hand, not fully kind of understanding
(04:46):
what she was tapping into, we're only now, you know,
realizing what the real what the potential is that we
have for our next fifty years.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Now. Yeah, I say the Internet is the best and
the worst thing to happen to human kind, absolutely, because
you know, we all know the bad reasons why, but
the good reasons are projects exactly like this, Because I
can just think about her networking in New York back
in the seventies and eighties, talking with people who happened
(05:16):
to be part of the diaspora. No people digging in
those boxes under the bed and in the basement. But
now the reach is limitless.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You could say, that's right, that's right, and it's and
it's kind of a perfect storm or great timing, because
you know what quickly started to happen is as you say,
she started off, it's like concentric circles. Yeah, you know,
she started with the local community in Manhattan, and at
that time there were still genocide survivors. Well, first of all,
(05:46):
the immune community was still kind of quite active and more.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Embedded at the time.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
But part of that was also that there were still
genocide survivors living. And then what ended up happening was
by the time she got back to Boston, by the
time projects A became an official.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Five oh one c three word got out.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You know, next thing, you know, it wasn't just a
community based thing, you know, so it pivoted, not that
she had it, she'd ever thought of it as a
community based thing, but that's, as you say, that's how
you start, you know, to now where you know, this
is the only such archive in the world, and it's
(06:31):
the largest photography archive focused on the Armenia and diaspora globally,
you know, and of course including photographs from Armenia, from
the Ottoman Empire and so forth.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, and let's talk about the archive itself. How big
is it? I mean, we've it's the biggest we know.
How big are we talking here? And how much is
it physical versus digital?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
At this? Sure? Sure?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, let me answer the second part first, because that's
been very important to me ever since I took over
in twenty twenty one, We are not a digital archive. Yes,
that's a very important part. And it turned out that
even our hardcore supporters for decades, they weren't entirely sure
about that. There was this thought that maybe people give
(07:18):
their photographs, we digitize them, and then we give the
photographs back or something like that.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
But that's not the case. We are.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
The mission of the archive centers around the materiality of
these objects. That's the pricelessness, that's the priceless element and
the importance of these objects.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Of course we do.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Digitize them, sure, you know, to share and for research
and all that. But yeah, but it's not a digital archive.
The first question that was interesting. So as we were
entering our fiftieth anniversary this year, I started to think
because up until then, at last count, we were over
something like eighty thousand photographs, you know, hard copy photograph,
(08:04):
original photographs, And as we were coming into the fiftieth,
I was like, you know, let me touch base on that.
Is that still, you know, can we do another kind
of updated And when we sat down to do that,
we very quickly realized that it's actually well over one
hundred thousand.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Oh okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's well over one hundred thousand, and
what we're talking about there are mostly original photographs. Yeah,
we also have things like glass plates that were used historically,
you know, many many years ago, negatives, things like that,
(08:45):
but it's mostly original photographs.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I can't even imagine what it must feel like to
hold an original photo from a century ago in your
hand and knowing that this photo had to travel so
far just to end up in your hands. Tell me
what that feels like.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
That that's such a great question and a good, wonderful
observation that that's exactly it. That's exactly why Ruth started
Projects Save, and that's why fifty years later, on the
one hand, the potential ism that listen, on the other hand,
it's resonating with a whole new demographic, including many non Armenians,
(09:25):
is exactly that point, Nicole, is that you know, as
you as you said earlier about how amazing and problematic
the Internet is, Well, you know, if we think of Instagram,
if we think of other digital platforms where we're looking
at photographs, they can be very beautiful, right. I mean
(09:47):
that there's lovely photographs that are being shared on different platforms,
but they're they're transient and what I mean by that
is exactly what you know that or some can close
their account, or you know, you save it on your
computer and then you can't find it, or or even
(10:07):
the or even the watering down of the power of
that image because it's on their Facebook and then it's
on their Instagram and then it's everywhere, and then you know,
that actually takes away from the power of a photograph
as well. So when you're holding a photograph at projects saved,
let's let's take a photo.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Let's say, you know we have we have.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So many photographs of course pre Armenian genocide. But so
if you if you look at any number of those
collections that are let's say, right before the genocide, and
then you look at the ones right after the genocide,
you know, what you're holding in your hand is something incredible.
You're holding in your hand history and living history, because
(10:54):
you know the people in the If you're looking at
a photograph from let's say Constantinople, which is today is
and you're looking at a beautiful portrait of an Armenian
family in nineteen ten, eighteen ninety eight, whatever it might be,
you know, what you're holding is what they held in
their hands after that photo was produced, and you're holding
(11:19):
something that those people held in their hands, not knowing
what was about to happen. I mean, that's incredibly poignant
and powerful. And then if you flip that and you're
looking at a photograph, let's say, from nineteen twenty three,
(11:40):
of an Armenian immigrant in.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Boston, in Detroit, in.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Marseille, France, in London, in Canada, in China, in Cuba,
again you're seeing the material. You're holding a photograph that
these people had taken, that they held in their hands
and possibly sent that photograph to people back in wherever
(12:11):
their families ended up after the genocide. So now you're
seeing before a major catastrophe of the twentieth century and after,
and to have those original photographs is not just incredibly powerful,
but it keeps the voices of those people alive.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
They are the witnesses of that time.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
And now that we have AI, I think it's important
to say that with projects save, it has to be
the original photographs. That again, that's something very prescient that
Ruth understood because now one hundred years later, unfortunately a
lot of things have been repeating. You know, you had
the war, the aw abauh War Azerbadjahn invading and brutality
(13:00):
and ethnic cleansing that happened there. You have what's going
on in the Middle East. The Armenian quarter in Jerusalem,
which is one of the ancient quarters of Jerusalem many many, many,
many hundreds of years, is in a precarious situation be
rout Aleppo, the Armenians in Baghdad. I mean, so, you know,
(13:22):
in a time of ai when there are still some
forces in the world that deny genocide, deny ethnic cleansing,
deny just basic.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Historical facts.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Having original photos, I can't think of a more powerful
evident cherry narrative to combat things like that.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
So what are people using your photos for? Is it
more genealogical research, is it historical research? A little bit
of both. I mean, what are people coming into look
at your photos for?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Great question?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I would say that, you know, when I first joined
Project Save, my first thought was actually that just in general,
the photos aren't being used enough. So yeah, so I
took that as my kind of directive that you know,
you can't be the world's largest such archive. And I
felt that the photos were not being used enough, and
(14:26):
mostly because just not enough people knew about projects save
and they and they still kind of don't. That's that's
why we're so excited to share what we do now
in our fiftieth But when they are used generally, it's
research number one. So everything you know, we've our photographs
have appeared in a number of like academic books, documentaries,
(14:49):
things like that, And then there is some genealogy.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I would say those two.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Are the main things you know, in some academic slash
kind of journalism.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Of course, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Sometimes we would get you know, oh it's the commemoration
of the army and genocide. A news program is doing
a segment and they want to show some historical photographs
things like that. Since then, what I've done is a
number of initiatives where the point is that to emphasize
that this is a living archive. It's not meant to
(15:25):
be just kind of stored away in the vault and
kind of you know, forgotten about just to preserve it.
You know, the point is that it's a living archive.
So for example, we have an artist residency now, so right, yeah,
I invite an artist our first one for example, who's
(15:49):
an incredible photographer, Pavelo Romanico. His faculty at humans in Lowell.
He had come to the United States as a kid
from Russia. He came and he explored the collections we
have of the period right before and right after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, when when Armenia was a
Soviet Republic, and we're planning his exhibition post, you know,
(16:15):
his residency where he the photographs that really resonated with him.
The goal there is, you know that I give the
artists free reign and they create whatever you know, kind
of strikes them as long as it's in kind of
a dialogue. You know, it's coming from their time with
(16:35):
these photographs in our archives. So that's that's one. We
are starting to think more about how we can ourselves
begin to produce some documentaries. I mean, these are hundreds
of thousands of stories waiting to be told, and I
(16:56):
think it would behave us to find ways to bring
those to life ourselves on our website, through documentaries, through
other mediums. We do a Conversations on Photography series where
I basically invite people that I think very highly of photographers, curators, archivists,
(17:16):
and again it's not so much about projects save but
of course inevitably it has to do with cultural preservation.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Why are archives important? Why is photography important?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
What does it mean? How can we think about it?
How can it activate communities? I gave a talk at
the Watertown Public Library where the point of that talk was,
in this day and age in the United States and
elsewhere in the world, but in talking of the United States,
how can archives like projects save, underpin and re energize
(17:52):
a sense of community, ideas about democracy, ideas about empowerment
of citizens and the stories that they and their families have. Soasically,
we're doing a lot of different things now to activate
the archive. That's also really kind of re energize things.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
What also helps to re energize is the fact that
you just got some incredible donations. So tell me a
bit about those donations and what your plans are for those.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, we are very proud and thrilled to announce that we.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
About a month ago.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Or so, we received a transformational gift from an anonymous
donor in the Midwest. At the same time, it was
very fortuitous. At the same time, an anonymous donor from
New York City who in honor of her parents, donated
(18:58):
fifty thousand and at the same time, it was like
a trifecta. At the same time, I was very proud
and honored to welcome our very first trustee because I'm
also the trustees had kind of the board had kind
of gone defunct over the years, and she very generously
(19:21):
donated fifty thousand. She's a wonderful, wonderful person and also
based in New York. So really, you know, we're talking,
you know, half a million dollars here of a real pivotal,
pivotal change for projects save as you say, you know,
(19:42):
it is about these infusions. You know, I think a
lot of nonprofits they're kind of able to subsist, you know,
they do their thing, but they're constantly panicking month to
month about basic needs, operational needs. And what that does
(20:04):
is it, you know, really ties one hand behind your
back if you're in a leadership position, you know.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
So for me, it's like, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
It's hard to put together a vision and implement that
vision if at the same time, you know, you're worried
about next month or the month after that, or you
can't put together a stable.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Long term staff, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So on the one hand, I'm incredibly proud, as I
know Ruth is proud, as you should be. It's incredible
for a nonprofit to survive fifty years on a budget
that was you know, really it wasn't really keeping up
with the you know, inflation and times changing all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And what does these days?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
What does these days? Exactly?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Exactly and funnily, maybe ironically, one of the things I'd
saying the last couple of years when I took over
was exactly this idea that you know, this is a startup.
It's fifty years old, or at the time it was
becoming fifty years old, but it's a startup. You know,
the product is incredible. We have a wonderfully you know, obsessive,
(21:19):
slightly eccentric in the good ways, founder, as all startups do.
So who's given her life to this thing. And now
it was just about some capital that you know, all
startups at some point there has to be slightly larger
infusion for real breathing room and bandwidth in order to
(21:40):
all these initiatives that I've started the last number of
years that we've somehow done. But you know that was
all done on little to no budget and not in
the full ways that we envisioned them. And how would
those be sustainable?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
All that stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
So yeah, it's a real blessing that we're in this
transformational moment that I think now that also has a
way of energizing, you know, your supporters, because they even
if they always believed in an organization, and they support
you and they want you to do well and they
care very deeply, there is something to be said for
(22:22):
than leading by example, you know, when they see that,
Oh wait a minute, Okay, so now they have the vision,
they have leadership, they have a plan, and now that
plan is being backed up with resources that give you know,
there's a runway here for us.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Essentially.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah, and I think I think we're going to see
a lot of people as and we already are. We're
seeing people that are now way more interested in talking
to us about how they can be part of it.
And you know, what are the plans. And for example,
getting out of Boston, I've not been able to go
anywhere when I always knew that, you know, we have
(23:03):
to be on the ground.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I have to.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Spend some time going to other very vibrant communities like Philly,
you know, New York City, Toronto, Montreal, you name it, Detroit,
Los Angeles, San Francisco. Outside of the United States. So
I feel like now once one domino falls, now we're
(23:28):
very excited about you know, this coming year.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Absolutely as you should be for what it's worth. You
all have for fifty years. I mean you've only been
there for a few years, but you've put a lot
of work into this. You can clearly tell this is
something that's in your soul that you really put a
lot of effort and love into along with Ruth. So
what if somebody is listening and they want to help contribute,
Not just with money, although I mean we could all
(23:52):
use money, but if they have photos, if they have
no paper clippings, anything they want to give you that
might help.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I would say the first thing to do is go
do projects save dot org.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
And explore our site.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
It's a very visually engaging interactive site, and it'll give
a good idea of the scope and breath of what
we have and what we do. And then I would
say to reach out, you know, to email us, call
us and let us know what kind of photographs you have,
(24:31):
and and then we can talk about how to preserve
those photographs. The main thing I would say is, you know.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
We.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
For a long time it seemed there there ended up
being a bit of a you know, when you're talking
about people's personal photographs, obviously that's a very intimate thing,
especially when you're talking about old photographs and things like that.
I think this is in all communities, but knowing the
Armenian community, I think there was some element of well,
(25:02):
you know, why would you want my photographs? Like these
aren't famous people. Nobody knows these people, you know, they're
just photographs, right, that's the point exactly exactly, I think
when you look at it.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
And I think, by the way, that's the interesting thing
about Ruth.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Ruth is half Armenian, Okay, And I'm saying that because
Ruth her Armenian side is many many generations Armenian Americans.
So that's a pretty old American Armenian side as well.
It's not a recent immigration story. And her American side
is a very you know, they came over on the Mayflower. Yes,
(25:40):
So for Ruth, luckily she always had that mindset. Well,
of course we care about all the photographs, doesn't it.
We're not, you know, And I think that's a more
that's the American side you know in this in the
sense that that's a very American way to think that
these are all equal. There's no hierarchy here. These are
just people stories, and we care about all of them,
(26:02):
right Whereas I think for a lot of Armenian folks,
you're talking about a traumatized community who's also like a
lot of immigrant groups, they come to a new country.
You know, they kind of just want to blend in.
It's like, why do you care about this? Why do
you you know? Things like that. So what I would
(26:23):
say is to people that want to get involved, don't
self censor what you think is worth keeping not worth keeping.
You know, all the historic, beautiful photographs that Project Safe
has that people come and they see or they look
on our website and they're blown away by these beautiful
historic photographs. I always the first thing I tell them
(26:44):
is just remember the people in that photograph. Didn't they
didn't decide one day in eighteen ninety nine to say, hey,
you know guys, let's get together for a historic photograph.
That's going to look really special and it's going to
look like it's so important. In twenty twenty five, it's
(27:04):
just their family photograph. You know, those are just people.
It looks amazing to us now because it's been preserved
and over time. Like anything else you go to a museum,
you go anywhere else, or any other incredible artifact that
you can touch and see, it takes on a kind
(27:25):
of sublime, sacred of It takes on an otherness, you
know what I mean. And what I told them is
that's how your photographs are going to be one hundred
years from now, you know. So I would say for
people to reach out to not self censor what they
think we might want or not want. To just reach
(27:46):
out to us and talk to us about what they have,
and we're open to everything as long as they're original.
We are open to any photographs. For example, someone might
be our arminion, but the photographs they took h have
nothing to do with anything Armenian. Okay, right, you know,
(28:07):
so it's not the content of the photograph, you know,
as long as it has some connection to something Armenian.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Not your picnic table or something exactly, it's not. But
it's not what we're looking for.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Here, that's right. And in this day and age. Ruth
is an older example of this.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
But that's also the reason I love that someone like
Ruth founded projects say it.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
You know, this is this is never.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Meant to be a one hundred percent Armenian archive, because
that's not a sustainable thing. We're an American nonprofit, so
you know, I can't tell Ruth for example, right, I mean,
am I supposed to all the founder of projects save
we only want your.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Armenian half and I know so.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Yeah, So I think that's another thing that some people
in their Armenian community, at least there might there might
have been some confusion. There's plenty of Armenians who are
a quarter Army, they're half Armenion. Their spouse is not Ourmenion,
they're not Armenian, but their spouse is Armenian and they
care a lot about you.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Know, immigration, you know, so that's very important.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
There might be and we do have collections where it's
really gotten not much to do with our Armenians other
than one little connection somewhere, you know, especially in this
day and age. I said earlier that you know, there's
a lot of repetition unfortunately in Armenian history right now,
but really that's happening in a much larger context. We're
(29:33):
living in an age where a lot of things, unfortunately,
history is repeating itself. You know, there's a major swing
to the right in the world, and along with that
comes tremendous xenophobia, anti immigrant rhetoric, historical revisionism, and so forth,
(29:55):
and Projects Save you know, we absolutely well not shy
away from that. As a matter of fact, we double
down on that, because we wouldn't exist without those stories,
number one. And the reason we preserve those stories is
because those stories are what make the United States the
United States. Those Projects Save is one part of a mosaic,
(30:20):
the hundreds of thousands of stories that we've preserved, they
are part of a much larger mosaic of what makes
the United States an incredible country, a country that I'm
very proud of because I come from an immigrant family
and we see the ideals of the United States. We
(30:40):
believe in those ideals. We believe in all of the
best of the United States. And that means a plurality.
It means that people have an equal voice.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
And that we're all in this together.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
So I'm saying that because you know, now this is
also about I'm seeing more more people coming to Projects Safe,
connecting with Projects Safe who just care deeply about the
immigrant story because they care about their own story. Right
when you come, when you look at the the stories
of American Armenians. At Project Save, people are seeing their
(31:16):
own families, the Irish American story, the Greek American story,
the Jewish American story, the Arab American story, all of it,
and we welcome that. We want to actually kind of
what's the word, we want to build on that. So
we are starting to think about what are the ways
(31:38):
we can work with other communities that don't have a
Project Save sure, because Project Save is putting aside the
Armenian world. You know, I quickly found out when I
joined Projects Save that they're really, you know, an archive
like this doesn't exist in most other immigrant communities in
(31:58):
the US.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
They have all and of course they have collections.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
You know, there's many Irish American collections, but usually all
these or other kind of immigrant collections, but usually they're
at a museum. They are at you know, I don't know,
the Library of Congress or you know, something like that.
There isn't something that's just about the photographs and the
(32:23):
stories that go with those photographs. So I would say
that's a big thing for people to just get in touch.
Whether they're Arminion, they're not Armenian. People that care deeply
about the story of immigration, and also the people that
care deeply about the art of photography. I mean we're
(32:44):
getting more and more of that too, people that just
genuinely care about the power and the beauty of photographs.
I would say to get in.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Touch because remember that project save. What are we doing
for the next fifty years? Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (33:02):
We're not just kind of like, Okay, we're done. We
have over one hundred thousand photographs.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
We're going to be nice. We're moving on now. You
know that's work.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah, there's a lot more photographs to collect. Some of
those photographs might still be from the early twentieth century
or from the nineteenth century. However, there's things to collect now.
There's photographs from the nineties, from the eighties, right, and
the by the way, the oral histories that go with
those we have. Ruth, of course, in her foresight, had
(33:34):
done tremendous interviews while collecting the photos.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Smart So we recently.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Finished digitizing something like approximately eight to nine hundred cassette
tapes of oral histories, mostly in English, a couple in Armenian,
but mostly in English. Some of those are now up
on the website. But you know, we want to build
on those again. That's one of the things where people think, yeah,
(34:01):
but you're probably only interested in talking to like an
eighty year old no or no, you know, absolutely not.
We want the oral histories from people, people, younger, people
who have their own stories now about the seventies, the eighties,
the nineties.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Your own experience. It all counts, that's right. Projectsave dot
org again. If you want to donate, if you want
to donate photos, if you want to donate money to
keep all this great work going, projects save dot org.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
Correct, correct, and we will.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
You know now that we have our wonderful space new
space at six hundred Pleasant Street in Watertown, we've been
doing events.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
There's a gallery.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
So we also welcome folks to go on the website
sign up.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
To our mailing list.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
As we start having more events again after a little
break in the summer in September, you know, we'll start
having more events for people to join us.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Wonderful Well, Arto, thank you so much. This has been
such a great chat. I'm really loving all the work
you're doing to preserve history, so thank you for all
your efforts. It's great to have you here.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Thank you so much, Nicole, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
That is it for the show this week. Thanks again
for being here, and have a safe and healthy weekend.
Join me again next week for another edition of the show.
I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
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