, there were about 25,000 people of Armenian ancestry in the Philadelphia area and/or in South Jersey. The Hamidian massacres prior to the beginning of the 20th century, and subsequent Adana massacre of 1909 and Armenian genocide prompted Armenian immigration to the U.S. There is an Armenian day school in Upper Merion Township, Armenian Sisters Academy (ASA), with a Radnor postal address. In addition organizations catering to children and churches have sponsored weekend Armenian schools. Armenian National Committee of Pennsylvania chairperson Ara Chalian stated in 2012 that the distribution of the ethnic Armenians in the area became more widespread but with the overall numbers about remaining the same.