Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
The Armenian Genocide posters were mounted in the Fresno State Library after initially being rejected.
Sosse Baloian Yanez
Special to Hye Sharzhoom
In 2015, Fresno State became the first university to erect a monument commemorating the Armenian Genocide on a college campus in the United States. In 1986, however, the realization of such a memorial would have seemed like a distant dream. In that year, the Fresno State Library rejected a display of posters submitted by the Armenian Students Organization (ASO) commemorating the Armenian Genocide on the grounds that it was “too controversial and one-sided” and violated Fresno State Library’s policy “prohibiting presentations that take a ‘point of view’ on political or religious issues (“Genocide exhibit rejected,” The Fresno Bee, March 11, 1986).
In the months leading up to the annual Armenian Genocide commemoration on April 24 of 1986, the ASO submitted an exhibit of 20 black and white posters to the Fresno State Library that brought awareness to the victims lost in the Armenian Genocide. Purchased from the Armenian Assembly of America, the placards contained graphic photographs of Armenian bodies, reproductions of newspaper clippings about the Genocide, historical information, and the infamous quote from Adolf Hitler dated prior to the 1939 German invasion of Poland: “After all, who remembers the Armenians.” The quote was painfully ironic given the circumstances faced by the ASO in 1986.
Outraged by the library’s denial, the ASO demanded approval of the exhibit and a public apology (“Genocide posters get FSU’s OK,” The Fresno Bee, March 13, 1986.). A week later, Fresno State Library’s position was reversed and the exhibit was permitted. While it is disheartening to read how the perpetuation of genocide denial can affect institutions which pride themselves on fostering knowledge, this episode from history, like the construction of the Genocide monument itself, demonstrates the great power of Armenian activism.
It was not uncommon to hear negationist arguments about the Armenian Genocide from esteemed scholars in the late 20th century. In his book, The Historiographic Perversion (2009), Marc Nichanian cites examples of historians who reduced the Armenian Genocide to a deportation gone wrong, arguing that the 1.5 million lives lost were largely due to natural catastrophes (famine, sickness, etc.). He refers to this time as the “1994 campaign” because a number of refutations against the Armenian Genocide came out in that year. According to “Professional Ethics and the Denial of Armenian Genocide” published in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Journal (1995), “foreign scholars were encouraged [by the Turkish government] to revise the re-cord of genocide, presenting an account largely blaming the Armenians or, in another version, wartime conditions which claimed the lives of more Turks than Armenians.” This “encouragement” materialized in monetary compensation on the premise that efforts were made to discredit scholarly accounts on the Armenian Genocide. The spread of Genocide denial perpetuates doubt in intellectuals and triumphs when scholarly institutions view genocide as a political or religious issue not to be associated with.
Fortunately, Fresno State has come a long way since its misinformed denial. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide monument’s construction at Fresno State organized by the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Committee.
Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval delivered a speech at the 110th Armenian Genocide commemoration recognizing the Genocide and encouraging future students to further their education in Armenian Studies at Fresno State.
For ten years and counting, the monument has provided a place for the Armenian community of Fresno to gather on April 24 and honor those who lost their lives in the Armenian Genocide. Year round, Fresno State students and visitors enter the monument to learn and reflect on the history of the Armenians. The ASO in 1986 set an example for future members proving that passion and persistence can produce results. One could argue that because of their determination, there is a Genocide Monument on campus today.