Date of Award

5-2014

Thesis Date

5-2014

Degree Type

Honors Thesis-Unrestricted

Degree Name

B.A.

Department

History

Degree Program

History

Director

Andrew Goss

Abstract

As a prominent and influential missionary in Turkey in the early 20th century, Samuel Ralph Harlow offers a new perspective that should be included in historical literature on foreign missionaries and human rights. Through his correspondence and academic works, Harlow’s story unveils internal conflict among United States officials and missionaries in regard to Turkish treatment of Greeks and Armenians in the interwar period. Samuel Ralph Harlow represents the position in support of American intervention to rescue Greeks and Armenians from massacre and deportation, but as his superiors’ views on the matter changed, Harlow was silenced. The U.S. may have decided not to intervene after all, but missionaries certainly played a role in the decision. Harlow was an early advocate for foreign intervention for the sake of protecting human rights, and his story shows how American missionaries helped mold U.S. support for protecting vulnerable populations abroad. The Samuel Ralph Harlow Papers at Amistad Research Center are virtually untouched by academics; thus, Harlow deserves a study in his own right. This study involved extensive research on Harlow’s original papers, the United States Government Official Foreign Relations Documents, and the historiography of human rights and missionaries in the Middle East, particularly Turkey.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this honors thesis in whole or part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the honors thesis.

Download

Share

COinS