News

Jan 29, 2013

Our video at AHA in New Orleans!

As proud collaborators with NC State University’s Department of Public History, the Project was excited to be featured in their short video that showed at this year’s American Historical Association meeting in New Orleans, LA. The video explored the field of public history and used the Project as a chief illustration of the great working being… 

Jan 9, 2013

In honor of Sister Mary Michel Boulus, 1926-2012

In December 2012, Mercy Sister and devoted member of the Lebanese-American community in North Carolina, Mary Michel Boulus, died at the age of 86. A woman full of zeal, Sister Mary Michel was the former President of Sacred Heart College in Belmont, NC, and was awarded the Presidential Shield of the Republic of Lebanon from… 

Jan 7, 2013

The Importance of Oral History

As many of you know, The Lebanese in North Carolina Project began as an endeavor to collect oral testimonies from members of the community; to document stories of family, work, immigration, religion, food, marriage, education and more.  And we succeeded in conducting over 50 interviews with people living around the state as well as a… 

Jan 4, 2013

Happy New Year!

We have big plans for 2013, which we’ll share with you very soon! For now, we are beginning to transcribe the interviews we conducted as part of our mission to capture oral histories of the Lebanese-American community. We started this project with the rich interview with Mr. Mitchell Mack. Mack graduated from Morrisville High School,… 

Dec 12, 2012

Project awarded $10,000 Grant from NC Humanities Council

Khayrallah Program’s Lebanese in North Carolina Project Wins $10,000:  Award granted by North Carolina Humanities Council RALEIGH, N.C—The Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies at North Carolina State University was awarded $10,000 by the North Carolina Humanities Council for the 2012 cycle. This award is to help fund The Lebanese in North Carolina Project, a 3-year old effort… 

Dec 10, 2012

Mapping Early Lebanese, Part I

This installment provides background on the year-long collaborative project with The Digital Innovation Lab. The next installment will include the interactive tools designed for the community. Telling the story of the largely unstudied Lebanese community in North Carolina would not be possible without the generous donations of family photographs and home movies as well as… 

Sep 19, 2012

New! North Carolina Lebanese Naturalizations: 1909-1945

This post was contributed by Marjorie Merod, Researcher and Digital Media extraordinaire! We just uncovered over 60 naturalization records for Lebanese immigrants in North Carolina from 1909-1945. Available on our website, these rich documents can provide wonderful genealogical information not only about the naturalized person, but also about their families. However, the large amount of… 

Sep 12, 2012

Listening to the music of Lebanon

After the documentary premiered at the North Carolina Museum of History in March and April, many of you asked about the musical selection we chose for the film. With great thanks to University of California, Santa Barbara as well as our very own Naji Hilal, the music is now available. The music, like the narrative… 

Sep 1, 2012

Home movies of Joseph El-Khouri

Joseph Maroun El-Khouri was an immigrant to the United States in 1949. He was born in Kour, Batroun, Lebanon in 1924 to Rev. Maroun El-Khouri and Mariam Yazbek El-Khouri, one of seven children. Joseph was asked to come to the United States to help settle the estate of an uncle in Minneapolis, MN.  He had… 

Aug 29, 2012

A filmmaker’s perspective on North Carolina

The Lebanese in North Carolina Project is dedicated to collecting, curating and disseminating materials of the Lebanese-American experience in the state. Like most materials, the generous donations from families captures life in North Carolina from the Lebanese perspective. But, what about the context within which many Lebanese-Americans lived? When we hear stories of peddlers and…