Claire Kempa

Jan 10, 2018

Archive Spotlight: Historic Arabic Newspaper Digitization Project

In addition to our family collections, one of the Khayrallah Center Archive’s core collections is our growing trove of historic Arabic newspapers, literary journals, and magazines. Between 1890 and 1950, migrants from Greater Syria established a remarkably active and diverse immigrant press. Khayrallah Center researchers have identified over 140 newspapers, literary journals, and magazines published…

Oct 4, 2017

Archive Spotlight: New Sources on Commerce and Business

The relationship between Lebanese immigrants and commerce is often shrouded in myth. As part of their efforts to gain acceptance into American society, scholars such as Kalil Bishara argued in the immigrant press that “Syrians” were descendants of sea-faring Phoenicians and thus had a unique talent for commerce.[1] Additionally, the rags-to-riches “Peddler Myth” has become…

Sep 6, 2017

Debut of Syrians in New York: Mapping Movement, 1900-1930

The Khayrallah Center’s newest project, Syrians in New York: Mapping Movement, 1900-1930, uses digital mapping techniques to investigate New York City’s early Syrian/Lebanese immigrant community. This project is a phase of the center’s larger project, Mapping the Mahjar. Syrians in New York examines immigrants’ movement from Manhattan’s Washington Street neighborhood to Brooklyn, employing spatial analysis…

Feb 18, 2016

Archive Spotlight: Basil M. Kerbawy, Early Lebanese American Historian and Advocate

This post is written by Claire Kempa,  a MA student of Public History at NC State University. At the Center, she works on the digital archive and on Mashriq & Mahjar: A Journal of Middle East Migration Studies. Read more about this archival resource and the community member who donated it after the article! One of the most exciting…

Jan 7, 2016

Meet the Center’s Interns!

This post is written by Marjorie Stevens, Senior Research at the Khayrallah Center. The Khayrallah […]

Nov 25, 2015

New resource in our Archive: The Syrian World

This post is written by Claire Kempa, a first year MA student in the NC State Public History program. She is in charge of managing the Center’s digital archive and has made major headway redesigning the archive’s appearance and enhancing its content. Learn more about the Center’s Interns. The latest addition to the Khayrallah Center’s…