The Eastern Diocese’s Zohrab Information Center will host a lecture on Monday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at the Diocesan Center in New York (630 Second Ave., NYC). Dr. Nora Lessersohn will speak on the life and work of the “first Armenian New Yorker,” Christopher Oscanyan, and the images he produced of Ottoman Turks, Armenians, and others during the Civil War era (1850s-1870s). Oscanyan used his images to portray a vision of democratic ideals and political equality between Ottomans and Americans. By comparing his work to that of major American cultural figures like P.T. Barnum, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, and others, we will think about how Oscanyan’s efforts used and subverted contemporary practices to depict an equitable future between the U.S. and the Middle East. To view a flyer with details, click here.
