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Phoenician or Arab, Lebanese or Syrian ~ Who were the early Immigrants to America?

Core Story

Feb 6, 2019

“Like a wolf who fell upon sheep”: Early Lebanese Immigrants and Religion in America

For some early Lebanese immigrants, religion was a source of comfort. Its rituals, language, and congregations provided a sense of home in an alien environment, and stability amid the fast-paced changes they experienced in their new lives. For others, it was an oppressive reminder of a past they left behind, and a source of discord…

Nov 8, 2018

The Early Lebanese in America: A Demographic Portrait, 1880-1930

Introduction Between 1880 and 1930, tens of thousands of immigrants left the Eastern Mediterranean and traveled to the United States. Until now, we have not had a clear and detailed demographic portrait of these early immigrants. At best, we have imprecise, and quite often erroneous, answers to questions such as: how many immigrants were living…

Nov 15, 2017

Why did they leave? Reasons for early Lebanese migration

This article is authored by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and Khayrallah Distinguished Professor of Lebanese Diaspora Studies, and Professor of History at NC State. It is part of a planned series of article that explore the early Lebanese immigrant experience. The first article in this series  focused on…

Sep 20, 2017

Phoenician or Arab, Lebanese or Syrian ~ Who were the early Immigrants to America?

This article is authored by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and Khayrallah Distinguished Professor of Lebanese Diaspora Studies, and Professor of History at NC State. His earlier article focused on Lebanese-Americans in WWI. Between the 1870s and the 1930s some 120,000 immigrants left the Eastern Mediterranean and traveled to…