Jesse Krekore Marden (10 March 1872 — 21 March 1949) was an American physician and hospital administrator who was a leader of medical relief efforts during the Armenian Genocide through his work for Near East Relief.
Jesse Krekore Marden | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 10, 1872 |
| Died | March 21, 1949 (aged 77) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation(s) | Physician, relief worker, hospital director |
| Years active | 1898–1941 |
| Organizations | |
| Known for | Relief work during the Armenian Genocide |
| Relatives | Bertha B. Morley (sister-in-law), John D. Nutting (brother-in-law) |
| Awards | Honorary Doctorate, Dartmouth College 1930 |
Early life
editMarden was born on March 10, 1872, in Gaziantep, Turkey to Rev. Henry Marden and Mary Letitia Christy. Rev. Marden was a professor at the Theological Seminary at Marash; both Mardens also worked as missionaries in Turkey with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.[1] Both of his parents died of disease in the field; his mother died 1874, when Jesse was two years old, and his father died in 1890.[2] Marden graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1895, and with an M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1898. During his time at the University of Michigan he was president of the Students' Christian Association, and also participated in fieldwork doing outreach and research in impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago.[3][4]
Work in Turkey
editShortly after graduating with his M.D. in 1898, Marden was employed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and was sent to Gaziantep, Turkey to practice medicine.[5] From there, he practiced medicine in Gaziantep, Adana, and Merzifon, Turkey before he was recruited by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1905 to lead the hospital at Anatolia College in Merzifon. Under his leadership and fundraising efforts, the hospital's capacity expanded greatly, with renovated and new buildings, electrification, and modern medical equipment.
Under Dr. Marden's dynamic leadership, the hospital expanded to become the medical center for north-central Asia Minor, one of nine under missionary auspices in Turkey, treating thousands of patients every year. Its expansion was accomplished with the leanest resources [...] Dr. Marden led the fundraising efforts and, with his wife, the former Lucy Morley, contributed significantly from personal resources.
— William McGrew, Educating Across Cultures: Anatolia College in Turkey and Greece, p. 96
During the Armenian Genocide
editIn September 1915, Marden reported on the atrocities against the Armenian people to the American Committee on Armenian Atrocities.[6] The following year, Ottoman authorities arrested, tortured, and murdered approximately 20,000 Armenians in Marsovan. Anatolia College was attacked, several students and faculty members were arrested and executed, and the college closed. Dr. Marden witnessed these atrocities and left for the United States when the hospital was forcibly closed.[2]
Expedition to Palestine
editDuring World War I, in 1917 Arab rebels and their British allies captured Palestine at the conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine campaign. Consequently, in 1918 the Red Cross mounted a relief expedition to Palestine. Marden was recruited as a Chief Surgeon with the rank of Captain for the expedition. His wife, Lucy H. M. Marden, went as a member of enlisted personnel.[7]
Leadership of Near East Relief
editMarden returned to Merzifon in 1919, but was expelled again with the rest of the Americans in 1921. In 1922, he was appointed Director General of Near East Relief for American Relief Activities in Armenia and Transcaucasian Russia after directing the fight against outbreaks of cholera and typhus among victims of a famine.[8][9] He worked as director from 1921 until his retirement in 1941.
Personal life
editOn July 15, 1908, Marden married Lucy H. Morley, an American who was working as an educator and missionary in Marsovan, Turkey.[10] In 1912, they had a son, William Morley Marden, who died when he was 3, in 1916.[11]
Honors
editIn 1930, Marden was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from Dartmouth College in recognition of his efforts in Turkey.[12]
Later life
editIn 1941, due to the German invasion of Greece in World War II, Marden returned to the United States with his wife, and retired to Claremont, California where he died on March 21, 1949.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Clark, Frank Gray (1891). Memorial of Rev. Henry Marden: Given at the Reunion of the McCollom Institute, Mont Vernon, N.H., Aug. 21, 1890. Republican Press Association.
- ^ a b McGrew, William (2015). Educating across Cultures: Anatolia College in Turkey and Greece. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-4347-7.
- ^ Michigan Alumnus. Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. 1898. p. 64.
- ^ Nidiffer, Jana; Bouman, Jeffrey P. (2004). "'The University of the Poor': The University of Michigan's Transition from Admitting Impoverished Students to Studying Poverty, 1870-1910". American Educational Research Journal. 41 (1): 35–67. doi:10.3102/00028312041001035. ISSN 0002-8312. JSTOR 3699384. S2CID 143974875.
- ^ United States Department of State (1901). Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1101.
- ^ American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief Minutes 1915 - 19 (PDF).
- ^ "A.R.C. Commission Now On Its Way to Palestine for Relief of People of Holy Land will be Headed by Dr. John H. Finley". The Red Cross Bulletin. Vol. II, no. 17. Washington D.C.: American Red Cross. April 22, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ American Medical Association (1922). Journal of the American Medical Association. American Medical Association. p. 1058.
- ^ Barton, James L. (1930). Story of Near East Relief (1915-1930). New York: Macmillan.
- ^ "Digital Library for International Research Archive | Personnel records for Lucy H. Morley Marden". www.dlir.org. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ Gile, Ernest S. "CLASS OF 1895 | Dartmouth Alumni Magazine | January 1917". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine | The Complete Archive. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ "DR. JESSE KREKORE MARDEN | Dartmouth Alumni Magazine | AUGUST 1930". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine | The Complete Archive. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
- ^ "Digital Library for International Research Archive | Memorial records for Jesse K. Marden". www.dlir.org. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
Further reading
edit- McGrew, William (2015). Educating across Cultures: Anatolia College in Turkey and Greece. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-4347-7.
- Marden, Lucy Harriet Morley; Morley, Bertha B. (1950). Jesse Krekore Marden, 1872-1949, Missionary Physician. Courier Press.
- White, George E. (1916). "The Story of the Marsovan Eviction". Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad. Boston, Mass: Thomas Todd Company Printers. pp. 354–358.