The Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument, better known as Montebello Genocide Memorial, is a monument in Montebello,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

, dedicated to the victims of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

of 1915. The monument, opened in April 1968, is a tower of eight arches supported on white concrete columns. The memorial was designed by Hrant Agbabian. It is the oldest and largest memorial in the United States dedicated to the Armenian Genocide victims. The inscription on the memorial plaque reads: As part of the

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day ( hy, Մեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր ''Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or'') or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed ...

, thousands of Armenians from different parts of Greater Los Angeles area and American politicians gather in Montebello memorial every year on April 24 and lay flowers to the victims of the genocide.

History

After the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 1965, the Armenian community of Los Angeles decided to build a memorial, which would serve as a permanent location for commemorating the Armenian Genocide victims. They spent months looking for a site in the city of Montebello and came across land that the Bicknell family had dedicated to the city for public use. A group of Armenians led by Michael Minasian who was the founder of the Armenian Monument council started the process of exploring different architectural drawings. On January 12, 1967 the city Approved by a vote of 4-1 the design to build the Armenian Genocide memorial, the headlines read "CITY ACCEPTS PLANS OF ARMENIAN SHAFT". Armenians from around the world participated in the fundraising, which gathered $125,000. According to journalist Garin Hovannisian, the building of the monument was a "milestone for the Armenians of the United States". Then he continues, "it had taken almost three years of city hall meetings, town hall debates, and community fund-raising to consecrate, in public park, a monument". He also notes that "

ARF ARF may refer to: Organizations * Advertising Research Foundation * Animal Rescue Foundation * Armenian Revolutionary Federation * ASEAN Regional Forum People * Cahit Arf (1910–1997), Turkish mathematician Science, medicine, and mathematics * ...

Ramgavar The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party ( hy, Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն), the Ramgavar Party, (known before 1921 as the Armenakan party) ( hy, Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն), also known by its Ar ...

, Armenakan,

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, and every other category of Armenian converged at Bicknell Park for the opening ceremony". According to Hovannisian more than ten thousand Armenians attended the dedication ceremony. Then State Senator

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also serve ...

, who would later become Governor of California, read Governor Ronald Reagan's proclamation. Signs showing the location of the Armenian Genocide Martyr's Monument were installed along California State Route 60 near the Garfield/Wilcox exits on March 22, 2011.

Notable visitors

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, President of the United States *

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)Of ...

, President of Armenia * Bako Sahakyan, President of Nagorno Karabakh *

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, Governor of California *

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

, Lieutenant Governor of California *

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, US Senator from California *

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, US Congressman *

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Distr ...

, US Congresswoman *

Grace Napolitano Graciela Flores "Grace" Napolitano (; born December 4, 1936) is an American Democratic Party politician who has represented California's San Gabriel Valley and other parts of Los Angeles County in the United States House of Representatives sin ...

, US Congresswoman *

Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born August 12, 1939) is an American politician who was Mayor of Los Angeles County and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He represented the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles Count ...

, Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors *

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, Mayor of Los Angeles Majority Leader of the California Assembly *

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...

, US Senator from California *

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 Los An ...

, Mayor of Los Angeles *

Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (born May 27, 1942) is a convicted criminal and former American law enforcement officer who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justi ...

, former Los Angeles Country Sheriff *

Gil Garcetti Gilbert Salvador Iberri Garcetti (born August 5, 1941) is an American politician and lawyer. He served as Los Angeles County's 40th district attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. He is the father of the 42nd mayor of the ci ...

, District Attorney of Los Angeles County * Carmen Trutanich, Los Angeles City Attorney *

Charles Calderon Charles Michael Calderon (born March 12, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who served in both chambers of the California State Legislature. Early life and education Calderon was born on March 12, 1950 in Montebello, California. He ...

, California State Assembly Majority Leader *

Geoffrey Robertson Geoffrey Ronald Robertson (born 30 September 1946) is a human rights barrister, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship.

, international judge and human rights activist *

Israel Charny Israel W. Charny (born 1931) is an Israeli psychologist and genocide scholar. He is the editor of two-volume ''Encyclopedia of Genocide'', and executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem. Background Israel ...

, psychologist, historian and world-renowned genocide expert * Jack Hadjinian Mayor of Montebello *

Mark Geragos Mark John Geragos (born October 5, 1957) is an American criminal defense lawyer and the managing partner of Geragos & Geragos, in Los Angeles. Early life and education Geragos was born in Los Angeles, California, where he attended Flintridge Pr ...

, Armenian-American lawyer *

Sebu Simonian Sebu Simonian (born October 15, 1978; hy, Սեպուհ Սիմոնեան) is an Armenian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo Capital Cities. Early life Simonian was born in ...

, Armenian-American singer *

Judy Chu Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. Chu is the first Chines ...

, US Congresswoman

Gallery

File:Montebello Genocide Memorial1.jpg, The memorial under construction File:Montebello Genocide Memorial3.jpg, The memorial under construction File:Montebello Genocide Memorial4.jpg, Faraway view at the memorial during construction File:Montebello Genocide Memorial Plaque.jpg, The memorial plaque File:Armenian Genocide Memorial, Montebello, CA.jpg, April 24, 2008 File:Montebello Genocide Memorial 2012.jpg, The memorial in 2012 File:Montebello Genocide Memorial.jpg, Close up File:Armenian_Remembrance_Day_in_Montebello_CA.jpg, Woman offering prayers April 2016

References and sources

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

The official website dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
{{Coord, 34, 1, 42.19, N, 118, 7, 51.40, W, type:landmark, display=title Armenian-American culture in California Armenian genocide memorials Buildings and structures in Los Angeles County, California Monuments and memorials in California 1968 sculptures Concrete sculptures in California Montebello, California

History

Notable visitors

Gallery

See also

References and sources

External links