In September of 1915, the U.S. Ambassador to Ottoman Turkey, Henry orgenthau, suggested the creation of an American charity foundation to help the Armenians suffering during the Armenian Genocide, particularly orphans. President Woodrow Wilson supported the idea and the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief (ACASR) was quickly established. A CASE, now known as the Near East Foundation (NEF), saved the lives of over one hundred thirty two thousand Armenians. Many of them were sheltered in orphanages near Beirut.
In the early 1920s, Swiss missioner Jakob Künzler supported the establishment of an Armenian rug-making factory in the town of Ghazir, forty miles north of Beirut. The main purpose of the creation of this factory was to teach rug-making skills to Armenian children who survived the genocide, particularly girls, so they would be able to earn money and support themselves.
Ghazi's rugs quickly became very popular. Between 1923 and 1930, this mill produced 3,254 rugs. In fact, Ghazi's most recognized rug, known as the Armenian Orphan Rug, was gifted to the White House in December 1925, as a sign of gratitude for the support that the U.S. rendered to Armenians during World War I. The rug measures eleven feet, seven inches by eighteen feet, five inches (3.53 meters by 5.61 meters), and contains 4 million 404 thousand 206 hand-woven knots. It includes lions, unicorns, eagles, and birds as part of its intricate composition. The middle of the carpet features a magnificent medallion-shaped design. It took over 18 months for the rug to be meticulously woven by four hundred Armenian children.
In November of 2014, after initial rejection and almost a year of debates, the White House allowed to display the Armenian Orphan Drug at the White House visitor's center for several days. The Armenian orphans created also the prominent "Marash art-crafts": wonderful handmade laces.
Source: Harold Bedoukian; Rugs, Woven by Orphans and Rugs with Armenian-Lettered Inscriptions in Private Collections; Armenian Knot: Traditions of Carpet Weaving Art, Collection of internation conference's articles, Yerevan 2013.