Near Eastern American Collections
Manuscripts
Papers, ca. 1917-1971. Ca. 1 linear in.
Papers of Ahmed, a Turkish American, include brief histories of Turks in America, newspaper clippings pertaining to Turkish Americans and to Turkish-Greek conflicts, and miscellany. In English and Turkish.Ajami Family.
Family history, ca. 1952-1980. Ca. 1 linear in.
Papers of the Ajami family include letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, programs, and poetry. Much of the material pertains to Selma (Bojolad) Ajami, an opera singer, and to Jocelyn Ajami, an artist. Correspondence refers to Philip K. Hitti, and correspondents include Ambassador Fletcher Warren. Includes English, Spanish, and German.Al Akl, F. M. (1903-1971).
Papers, ca. 1920-1971. 2 linear ft.
Al Akl was a surgeon, author, poet, photographer, inventor, and art collector. He was born in Egypt, educated there, and received his MD from the American University of Beirut. After postgraduate training in London, Paris, and Vienna, he came to New York, where he practiced medicine and was active in Arab American affairs in addition to his other activities. He was decorated by the governments of Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon.
Papers consist of correspondence, photographs, writings, and other materials documenting Al Akl's various activities. Mainly in English.
Records, ca. 1969-1981. Ca. 1 linear in.
The Association is a nonsectarian cultural and charitable organization dedicated to improvement of relations between the United States and Arabic-speaking countries. Records consist mainly of program announcements for meetings. In English.Ansara, James M.
Papers, ca. 1920-1982. Ca. 10 linear ft.
Ansara wrote extensively on migration of Arabic-speaking people in the United States and was active in Arab American organizations. He served as executive secretary and executive director of the Syrian and Lebanese American Federation of the Eastern States and as editor of the Federation Herald (later the National Herald), its monthly publication. In 1956, he moved to Boston and set up a consulting business on Middle Eastern and Arab relations, but he continued to be active in the National Association.
Papers include personal correspondence and records of organizations relating to Americans of Arab descent, including those of the National Association of Syrian-Lebanese American Federations. Also included are writings and notes; school notes and papers; newspaper clippings; photographs; and published materials, mainly pertaining to Middle East affairs. Mainly in English. Partial inventory available.
Records, 1978-1981. 1 linear in.
Records of the Center consist of bylaws, objectives, press releases, flyers, etc. Also included are press releases of the American Federation of Ramallah Palestine and its founding. Mainly in English.
Association of Arab-American University Graduates, Twin Cities Chapter (Minneapolis, Minnesota).
Records, 1970-1987. Ca. 2 linear ft.
The Association of Arab-American University Graduates is a cultural, educational, and professional organization founded in 1967. It assists in development of the Arab world by donating the professional services of its members. It is nonprofit, nonsectarian, and nonpolitical and is open to university graduates of Arabic origin.
Records of the Twin Cities Chapter include resolutions, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, meeting announcements, and papers on Zionism. The records pertain to the national organization as well as to the Twin Cities Chapter. Includes English.
Papers, ca. 1907-1980. Ca. 1 linear in.
Papers of Couri, a Lebanese American, include photographs, correspondence, and copies of citizenship documents for Najiba and Tony Ferris (originally Antonios Farès). Also included is a pamphlet on the Ladies Itoo Society (Peoria, IL). Includes English. Photocopies only.Federation of Turkish American Societies, Inc. (New York, New York).
Records, ca. 1981-1984. 1 linear in.
Records consist of letters to U.S. senators, newspaper clippings, and mailing lists. Most materials pertain to Turkish-American relations. In English and Turkish.Hamarneh, Sami K.
Papers, ca. 1960-1972. Ca. 1 linear in.
Hamarneh was a historian of Islamic medicine at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC). Papers include correspondence and professional papers. Includes English.Hitti, Philip Khuri (1886-1978).
Papers, ca. 1915-1976. Ca. 15 linear ft.
Hitti was born in Shimlan, Lebanon. He graduated from the American University of Beirut and taught there until he came to the United States in 1913. He received his PhD from Columbia University, where he taught in the Department of Oriental Languages. In 1920, he returned to the American University of Beirut as a history professor. From 1926 until his retirement in 1954, he taught at Princeton University in the Departments of Oriental Languages and Literatures and Near Eastern Studies. In the United States, Hitti was an authority on the cultures, history, religions, and languages of the Near East and worked to create among Americans an appreciation and understanding of Arabic and Islamic cultures. In 1945, he served as adviser to the Arab delegations to the United Nations organizational meeting in San Francisco. He also served as a consultant to American government agencies and corporations, was the author of numerous books, and trained generations of scholars.
Hitti's papers include personal and professional correspondence, lectures and speeches, book reviews, writings, personal memorabilia, and copies of U.S.-sponsored archaeological dig contracts. Mainly in English. Inventory available. Restricted. Related collection: William H. Shehadi.
Papers, ca. 1921-1972. Ca. 3 linear ft.
Papers of Mary Mokarzel, who succeeded her father as publisher of the Arab American newspaper Al-Hoda (The Guidance), consist of personal correspondence, business records, photographs, advertisements, and miscellany. Also included are subscription lists for the Lebanese American Journal. Correspondents include Sheikh Pierre Gemayel, William M. Kunstler, Khalil Habib Sayegh, Leonard S. Tack, Necib Trabulsi, and others. Inventory available.
Naff, Alixa.
Papers, 1962. Ca. 1 linear in.
Papers of Naff consist of a photocopied typescript pertaining to folklore and life histories collected from Christian Syrian Lebanese first generation immigrants in the United States. In English.Najjar Family.
Papers, ca. 1975-1982. Ca. 1 linear in.
The Najjar family (originally Al-Balady) are Lebanese Americans and Orthodox Christians from Lebanon and Syria and later from New York and Montreal. The family history consists of a family chronicle and genealogy. In English. Photocopy only.Rashid Family Club of America.
Papers, 1979-1980. 1 booklet.
The Rashids are a Lebanese American family, the first five members of which immigrated in 1896 and moved to the Midwest, settling in Detroit, Michigan; Iowa; and Illinois. Papers consist of a reunion booklet (1979) and newspaper clippings describing a reunion of the family. In English.Shehadi, William H.
Papers, 1954-1957. Ca. 1 linear in.
Papers of William H. Shehadi contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs pertaining to activities in honor of Philip Khuri Hitti, in particular to the banquet given by the Alumni Association of the American University of Beirut in honor of Hitti's retirement in 1954. In English.Soffa Family.
Papers, 1979. Ca. 1 linear in.
The history of the Syrian American Soffa family is a chronicle of the families of Amen (ca. 1873-1949), John (1897- ), and Anna Soffa, and their respective spouses and spouses' families. Amen Soffa came to the United States in the late 1890s, and became a trader in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 1901, he married Nazera Kimmel (originally Cammel), a Lebanese American, and they settled near Preston, MN. The family history consists of a photocopy of The Family History Book: A Genealogical Record, compiled by Barry Dahl. In English.Syrian Ladies' Aid Society (Brooklyn, New York).
Records, 1908-1958. Ca. 1 linear in.
Records of this charitable society consist of bylaws, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and miscellany. Includes English.
Monographs
Available bibliographies on the history of Near Eastern immigrants include Philip Kayal's "An Arab-American Bibliography," in Arabic Speaking Communities in American Cities, edited by Barbara C. Aswad (1974); Ayad al-Qazzaz's Women in the Arab World: An Annotated Bibliography (1975); and George Dmitri Selim's The Arabs in the United States: A Selected List of References (1983).
The Arab American experience was the subject of an IHRC-sponsored conference in 1983, proceedings of which are published in Crossing the Waters: Arabic-Speaking Immigrants to the United States before 1940, edited by Eric Hooglund (1987). Other general works on Near Eastern Americans include the Aswad book mentioned above, Amer Ibrahim Al-Kindilchie's Arab Immigrants in the United States (1976), James Ansara's The Immigration and Settlement of the Syrians (thesis, 1931), Habib I. Katibah's Arabic Speaking Americans (1946), Philip K. Hitti's The Arabs: A Short History (1944), and Beverlee Turner Mehdi's The Arabs in America, 1492-1977: A Chronology and Fact Book (1978).
The origins and migration of Near Eastern groups can be researched in Frank Ahmed's An Anatolian Odyssey: Early Turkish Migration to America, 1900-1924 (1984); The Story of Lebanon and its Emigrants, published by the Al-Hoda Press (1968); and Alixa Naff's Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience (1985). Publications on particular communities with settlements of Near Eastern immigrants include John G. Moses' From Mt. Lebanon to the Mohawk Valley: The Story of Syro-Lebanese Americans of the Utica Area (1981); Lucius Hopkins Miller's Our Syrian Population: A Study of the Syrian Communities of Greater New York (1904); Syrian and Lebanese Texans, from the Institute of Texan Cultures (1974); and Mohammad Tavakoli-Yazdi's Persian Assyrian Immigrants in the Metropolitan Chicago Area (1970).
Of the various religious groups, three are well represented in the collection. They are Muslims, and Maronite and Orthodox Christians. Works on the former include Abdo A. Elkholy's The Arab Moslems in the United States: Religion and Assimilation (1966); Yahya Aossey, Jr.'s Fifty Years of Islam in Iowa, 1925-1975 (1975); and Elkholy's Religion and Assimilation in Two Muslim Communities in America (1960). The Arab Christian experience in America is reflected in Mary C. Sengstock's Kinship in a Roman Catholic Ethnic Group (1975); Thomas J. McMahon's The Irish of the East: The Maronites, Their History and Liturgy (n.d.); May Ahdab-Yehia's "The Detroit Maronite Community" (in the Aswad anthology); and Pierre Gemayel's A Call from Christian Lebanon (1955). Also included are church histories, such as the St. Nicholas Syrian Orthodox Church (1957); St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (1973); and Church of the Holy Family 50th Jubilee, 1918-1968 (1968).
The Arab Americans are vigorous organizers of clubs and societies, often connected with family and church. IHRC monographs on this aspect of Arab American life include Membership Directory (1970, 1971) of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates and a history of the group, The First Decade, 1967-1977 (complemented by manuscript holdings); the Constitution and By-Laws of the Arab National League (n.d.); The Nineteenth Annual Convention of the American Ramallah Federation (1977); and the Risq G. Haddad Foundation's Charter, Constitution, and By-Laws (1943).
For some areas of Near Eastern American life, including political involvement, the press, education, and cultural works, the IHRC monograph collection contains only a few representative works. They include Political Action Guide: You Can Make Your Opinion Heard in Congress (1984); Al-Kindilchie's Arab Immigrants in the United States (1976); and "Research on Arab Child Bilinguals," in Aswad's book.
The IHRC holds a good sample of available literary works, many of them in Arabic. Included are Sargon Boulas's Tigris (n.d.); Arab Writers in America: Critical Essays and Annotated Bibliography (1981); Fouad M. Al Akl's Until Summer Comes (1945); Eugene Paul Nassar's Wind of the Land: Two Prose Poems (1979); Na'um Makarzel's Qissah (1900); and many items, in Arabic and English, by Kahlil Gibran. Material relating to music includes Alexander Maloof's Oriental Piano Compositions; Syrian Popular Songs (1924); Twelve Arabic Popular Songs (1938); and Syrian, Oriental and American Vocal and Instrumental Compositions (1928).
Among the small number of biographies and autobiographies are Barbara Young's A Study of Kahlil Gibran: This Man from Lebanon (1931); Stanley E. Kerr's The Lion of Marash: Personal Experiences with American Near East Relief, 1919-1922 (1973); Jean Gibran's Kahlil Gibran, His Life and World (1981); Michael A. Shadid's A Doctor for the People (1939); Salom Rizk's Syrian Yankee (1943); and Rev. Abraham Rihbany's A Far Journey (1914). A recent study of mainstream society's perceptions of Arabic people is Michael Suleiman's Arabs in the Mind of America (1988).
Newspapers
Action, New York, NY. Weekly: 1969-1982. English.American University of Beirut News, New York, NY. Quarterly: 1973. English.
Arab Mirror (previously a section of Voice of Masr), Jersey City, NJ. Monthly: 1977-1978. Includes English.
Al-Bayan (The Explanation), Detroit, MI. Weekly: 1959, 1966.
Al Bedaya (The Beginning), Little Rock, AR. Monthly: 1981-1982. Includes English.
Belady (My Country), Glendale, CA. Monthly: 1974-1975. Includes English.
The Caravan, Brooklyn, NY. Weekly: 1953-1954, 1959, 1961. (Microfilm: 1953-1961). English.
Free Palestine, Washington, DC. Monthly: 1969-1972. English.
The Heritage, New York, NY. Weekly: 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974. English.
Al-Hoda (The Guidance), New York, NY. Weekly: 1960, 1966, 1973-date.
Al-Islaah (The Reform), New York, NY. Weekly: 1949, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1966, 1969-1983. (Microfilm: 1949-1958, 1962-1977). Includes English.
Meraat ul Gharb (Mirror of the West), Brooklyn, NY. Tri-weekly: 1950-1952, 1955-1959.
New Lebanese American Journal (previously titled Lebanese American Journal), New York, NY. Weekly: 1956-1978. English.
The News Circle (changed to serial format in 1980), Los Angeles, CA. Monthly: 1973-1980. English.
The Palestinian Voice, Los Angeles, CA. Semi-weekly: 1971-1976. Includes English.
El Ra-Ed News (The Pioneer), Staten Island, NY. Bi-monthly: 1975-1978. Includes English.
As-Sameer (The Entertainer), Brooklyn, NY. Daily (?): 1949-1951, 1953.
As-Sayeh (The Wanderer), New York, NY. Semi-weekly: 1947, 1953-1954.
The Source, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (previously published in Edmonton, Alberta, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). Semi-monthly: 1971-1978. Includes English.
Star News Pictorial, Los Angeles, CA. Monthly: 1961-1964. English.
The Tulsa Star, Tulsa, OK. Bi-weekly: 1972-1978. English.
Voice of Masr, Jersey City, NJ. Monthly: 1974, 1977. Includes English.
Al-Wafa (The Fulfillment), Lawrence, MA. Semi-weekly. (Microfilm: 1907-1910).
Serials
ADC Issues (ADC Research Institute), Washington, DC. Frequency varies: 1981-1984. English.
ADC Times (previously titled ADC Reports), Washington, DC. Ten issues per year: 1980-date. English.
American-Arab Affairs, Washington, DC. Quarterly: 1982-1984. English.
American-Arab Affairs Council Special Report, Washington, DC. Quarterly (bi-monthly): 1982, 1983. English.
ANERA Newsletter (American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc.), Washington, DC. Bi-monthly: 1970-1973. English.
Arab Cultural Center Newsletter, San Francisco, CA. Frequency varies: 1973-1981. English.
The Arab News, Dearborn, MI. Monthly (?): 1979.
Arab Views, New York, NY. Monthly: 1969-1970. English.
The Arab World, New York, NY. Quarterly: 1944, 1946. English.
The Arab World (The Arab Information Center), New York, NY. Bi-monthly (monthly): 1958, 1965-1972. English.
Arab World Issues, Belmont, MA (Detroit, MI). Frequency varies: 1975-1977, 1980. English.
Association of Arab-American University Graduates Information Papers, North Dartmouth, MA. Frequency varies: 1970-1978. English.
Association of Arab-American University Graduates Membership Directory, Washington, DC. Annual: 1969-1971. English.
Association of Arab-American University Graduates, Inc. Newsletter, Belmont, MA (previously published in Shrewsbury, MA, and Detroit, MI). Frequency varies: 1968-date. English.
ATAA News Line (Assembly of Turkish-American Associations) Washington, DC. Quarterly: 1985-date. English.
ATA-USA (Bulletin of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations), Washington, DC. Quarterly: 1980-1985. English.
Ay Yildiz (Turkish Star; Turkish American Cultural Association of Georgia), Atlanta, GA. Monthly: 1985. English.
The Cedar Press, Long Beach, CA. Monthly: 1975. English.
The Copts "Christians of Egypt," Jersey City, NJ. 1977. English.
Egypt, Washington, DC. Quarterly: 1951-1952. English.
The Federation Herald (title changed to The National Herald in 1956), Washington, DC (previously published in Fitchburg, MA). Monthly: 1940-1943, 1948-1955. English.
Federation News (Federation of American Syrian-Lebanon Clubs), Columbus, OH. Monthly: 1952-1953. English.
Focus (National Association of Arab Americans), Washington, DC. Monthly: 1982. English.
Habibi, Mt. View, CA. Monthly: 1979. English.
Inside, Washington, DC. Monthly: 1983. English.
The Islamic Center Bulletin, Washington, DC. Quarterly: 1972-1975. English.
Islamic Center of Minnesota Newsletter, Minneapolis, MN. 1973. English.
Al-Khalidat (The Eternals), Terre Haute, IN (place of publication varies). Monthly (except March and April): 1928, 1930-1931.
The Link, New York, NY. Bi-monthly: 1971-1976, 1979-1981. English.
The Middle East Newsletter, Beirut, Lebanon. Frequency varies: 1968-1971. English.
Mideast Monitor (previously titled Middle East Focus), Belmont, MA. Frequency varies: 1984-date. English.
MIM Newsletter, New York, NY. Weekly (?): 1986. Turkish and English.
Najda Newsletter (Women Concerned about the Middle East), Berkeley, CA. Monthly (bi-monthly): 1982-1983. English.
The National Herald (previously titled The Federation Herald), Washington, DC. Monthly: 1956-1959. English.
The News Circle (previously published as a newspaper), Glendale, CA. Monthly: 1980, 1982-1985. Includes English.
The News Circle Almanac, Los Angeles, CA. Annual: 1974-1975. English.
Notebook (Arab American Institute), Washington, DC. Quarterly: 1985. English.
The Official Bulletin, Houston, TX. Monthly: 1954, 1962. English.
Palestine Resistance Bulletin, Buffalo, NY. Monthly (?): 1971. English.
The South Florida Basilian, Hialeah, FL. Semi-annual (?): 1963-1964. English.
The Syrian Ark, Indianapolis, IN. Monthly: 1941, 1952-1954. English.
The Syrian World, New York, NY. Monthly, weekly: 1927-1928. (Microfilm: 1926-1935). English.
Toledo Archdiocesan Messenger (previously titled Archdiocese Messenger), Toledo, OH. Bi-monthly: 1962, 1964, 1969-1975. English.
Türk Birlii Bültemi (Journal of Turkish Unity; Federation of Turkish-American Societies Inc.), New York, NY. Monthly: 1984. Turkish and English.
The Turkish-American Gazette, Flushing, NY. Bi-monthly: 1985. English.
United Holy Land Fund Newsletter, Chicago, IL. Monthly: 1980-1981. English.
U.S. OMEN (United States Organization for Medical and Educational Needs), San Francisco, CA. Annual: 1967, 1973, 1975, 1979-1981. English.
Voice, Washington, DC. Monthly: 1982. English.
The Word, Englewood, NJ. Monthly: 1962-1963, 1965-1971, 1975. English.
