immigration

May 19, 2020

Announcing the Angele Hobeiche Kmeid-Ellis Collection

The Khayrallah Center is excited to announce a three part project centered on an extraordinary collection of over three-hundred letters received by Angele Ellis from friends and family in Lebanon, Cuba, Canada, Chile, and France. They are written in Arabic, English, and French, and many are accompanied by translations. Through extensive research, careful cataloging of… 

Aug 28, 2019

Passing a Camel Through Ellis Island: Arab-American Press and the Immigration Act of 1924

This post was written by Diogo Bercito, a Brazilian journalist who worked as a foreign correspondent in Jerusalem, Beirut, and Cairo. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, where he researches Arab migration to Latin America. He was a recipient of the Khayrallah Center’s Visiting Scholar Grant in May of 2019. A… 

Nov 8, 2018

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

This post was written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center, and Marjorie Stevens, Senior Researcher. It is the third installment in the center’s Core Story, a series of essays detailing the broader history of Lebanese immigration to the United States. Some material for this essay was based on a previous demographic analysis… 

Dec 6, 2017

Naif Farah: A Syrian in New York

The Khayrallah Center excitedly published the digital project Syrians in New York: Mapping Movement, 1900-1930 in September of 2017. However, not all of the extensive research conducted for the project fit within its final scope. This case study of Naif Farah reflects many elements of the story of Syrian/Lebanese immigrants that emphasizes upward mobility and… 

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 who… 

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 the… 

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 4, 2016

Questioning Assumptions: Gender & Lebanese Immigration

This post is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center, and Marjorie Stevens, Senior Researcher at the Khayrallah Center. For similar posts, check out migration and health, and Lebanese in the US Census. At the entrance to the Port of Beirut there stands a statue of a man in 19th century village… 

Jul 24, 2014

Map of Lebanese Diaspora

If you missed the museum exhibit hosted by NC Museum of History, check it out soon! Here’s one of my favorite maps of Lebanese Diaspora. South America claims the largest number of Lebanese immigrants, followed by North America, then Australia (Oceania). Thanks to Parsa Beheshti Shirazi for his great graphics! 

Sep 17, 2013

Our Director in National Geographic!

Dr. Akram Khater, the Director of the Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies is at it again. In case you’re wondering, we’re not certain he sleeps either! This time he provides some historical background for the Syrian-American community. As many of you readers know, the Syrian community has a rich history of immigration to the United…