News

Dec 8, 2014

Gibran’s work commemorated at L.A. Central Library

On Friday, December 6, at the Los Angeles Central Library in downtown, nearly 200 members of the Lebanese diaspora came to witness an historic event. Guests traveled from throughout California, the United States and Lebanon. Commemorated by artist Victor Issa and donated by the World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) , the unveiling of a bronze…

Dec 3, 2014

Lebanese Women and the Right to Vote

This article is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and a Professor of Middle East Studies at North Carolina State University. The focus of this articles comes from his book, Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender and the Middle Class in Lebanon, 1870-1920 In 1953, Lebanese women voted for the…

Nov 26, 2014

Lorraine Thomas: A Story of Perseverance, Independence and Respect

The oral history was recorded by Mandy Benter who also wrote this article. Photos are courtesy of the Thomas family. This month, the Moise A. Khayrallah Center of Lebanese Diaspora Studies had the pleasure of interviewing Lorraine Thomas of Raleigh. Lorraine’s family first came to the United States in 1903 and eventually settled in Red…

Nov 20, 2014

How the Lebanese Became White?

This post is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director, Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. Dr. Khater is a professor of history at North Carolina State University and has published extensively on Lebanese migration to the United States.  Race is a difficult topic. It is fraught with a violent history and tumultuous feelings. Yet,…

Nov 12, 2014

About town: Lebanese in Los Angeles

This weekend was a great time to be part of the Lebanese community in Los Angeles, CA. Two great events punctuated the weekend: L.A. Beirut Sister Cities Committee annual Gala held on Friday, November 7, and the Arab Film Festival, which held screening all weekend before heading to San Diego to close out the festivities.…

Nov 5, 2014

Tragedy strikes a Lebanese Community, 1918

This post is written by Margie Stevens. Her research focuses on death certificates of Lebanese in the United States. Her regular contributions will feature stories of Lebanese in different states across the U.S. This month, her focus is on Kentucky. On the windy evening of Saturday, March 9, 1918, hundreds, including Rosa Azar and Tommy…

Oct 30, 2014

Celebrating the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

NC State recently celebrated an exceptionally generous $8.1 million gift to endow the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Representing the largest single gift in the history of the college, the Khayrallahs are creating the first privately endowed center at NC State, and the world’s first center on Lebanese culture and history outside of Lebanon. Enjoy pictures from the event where the gift was announced.

Oct 29, 2014

An App that Connects Lebanese Everywhere

What’s wonderful about the Lebanese diaspora is that anywhere in the world you travel, you’re likely to meet a Lebanese-descended person. For such a small country, the community living outside of Lebanon is massive. As diasporic communities go–and there are many examples in history–keeping in touch with one another and to their homeland of origin…

Oct 15, 2014

Historic moment for Lebanese diaspora

Yesterday was a historic moment for the Lebanese diaspora community and for NC State University in Raleigh.   Crowded into the Park Alumni Center, NC State’s Chancellor announced the launch of the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. This is the only center-outside of Lebanon-dedicated to research about the Lebanese Diaspora in the US…

Oct 14, 2014

What death certificates tell us about the lives of Lebanese

The goal of the Khayrallah Center is to shed light on the important contribution of Lebanese-Americans. Beginning with a focus on North Carolina, we’ve accomplished that by conducting interviews, archiving family photos and movies, and creating cultural projects like a documentary and museum exhibit to showcase all that the community has done over the last century.…