1618 to Today

The first recorded Armenian in North America, an Iranian Armenian tobacco grower, settled in Jamestown, Virginia. In 1653–1654, two Armenians from Constantinople were invited to the colony to raise silkworms, bringing early agricultural expertise to the New World. Source

Khachatur Oscanyan arrived to pursue higher education, having been a student at a Constantinople American missionary school. He later worked for the New York Herald Tribune and became president of the New York Press Club. Source

The Church of Our Savior was built in Worcester, Massachusetts — the first Armenian church on American soil. The American Diocese was established in 1898 by Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian. Source

The first major wave of Armenian immigration was driven by the Hamidian Massacres of 1894–96, the Adana Massacre of 1909, and the Armenian Genocide of 1915–18. Between 1899 and 1917, 54,057 Armenians entered the United States. American missionaries and diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, documented the atrocities and mobilized humanitarian relief. Source

The American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief (ACASR) mobilized massive public support. The U.S. government recognized the independence of the Armenian Republic on April 23, 1920, when Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby delivered a note to the Armenian representative in Washington. Source

The Immigration Act of 1924 imposed national-origins quotas with a minimum of just 100 admissions a year for small nationalities, making it very difficult for Armenian families separated by the genocide to reunite. The quotas stayed in place until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Read more · Source

The Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello, California, opened in 1968, one of the earliest Armenian Genocide memorials in the United States. Source

The devastating 1988 Armenian earthquake and the Karabakh movement brought the Armenian American community together in an unprecedented humanitarian mobilization. Kirk Kerkorian's Lincy Foundation, established in 1989, went on to give more than $1 billion to charity, including more than $200 million for roads, schools and housing in Armenia. Source

The United States recognized Armenia's independence on December 25, 1991. Diplomatic relations were established on January 7, 1992. The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan opened in February 1992, and the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C. followed in March 1992. Source

Under the FREEDOM Support Act and other programs, the United States provided nearly $2 billion in humanitarian and technical assistance to Armenia — the highest per-capita amount for a post-Soviet state. In 2006, Armenia signed a Millennium Challenge Compact with the United States. Source

On October 29, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Res. 296, recognizing the Armenian Genocide by a vote of 405 to 11. On December 12, 2019, the Senate unanimously passed its companion resolution, S.Res. 150, making recognition the formal position of both chambers of Congress after decades of advocacy by Armenian Americans. Source

In his statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide. Earlier presidents had marked April 24, and President Reagan had referred to the genocide in 1981, but none had issued a formal recognition. Armenian Americans gather every April 24 in cities across the country to commemorate the victims. Source · Source

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan elevated bilateral relations to a strategic level with the signing of the Armenia-USA Strategic Partnership Charter in Washington, D.C. The Charter covers cooperation in the economy, trade, transport, energy, defense and security, democracy, justice, people-to-people contacts, and cultural exchanges. Source

President Donald Trump hosted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for a trilateral Armenia-Azerbaijan peace conference. The meeting produced a Joint Declaration, the announcement of the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" (TRIPP) connectivity project, and the initialing of the agreed text of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement. Source

During Vice President J.D. Vance's visit to Armenia on February 9–10, 2026, a joint statement was signed concluding negotiations on the "123 Agreement" for cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The trip marked the highest-level U.S. visit to Armenia in history. Source