Cedars in the Pines: The Lebanese in North Carolina, 130 Years of History
(This exhibit toured North Carolina from February 2014 to August 2015. It visited Raleigh, New Bern, and Charlotte, before it was decomissioned.)
Cedars in the Pines: The Lebanese in North Carolina follows the experiences of Lebanese immigrants from two waves of migration. The first wave arrived between the 1880s and the 1920s when economic decline, famine and war encouraged the Lebanese to leave for the Americas and Africa. Some found their way to North Carolina. Another wave of Lebanese immigrants began arriving in 1975, when civil war broke out in Lebanon. The internal conflict and continuing regional tensions have led more Lebanese to emigrate.
Cedars in the Pines brings together their remarkable stories in three exhibit sections: Journeys, Belonging and Being.
The exhibit features personal stories, family photographs, home movies, letters, artifacts, and video and audio recordings that bring to life the story of Lebanese immigration in North Carolina. Computer games, Arabic music, a dance floor to learn steps of the dabke, and other interactive components further immerse museum visitors in the Lebanese immigration experience.
