Would you like to play a part in Arab American History; would you like to learn more about early Arab-America immigration? Help us transcribe these valuable Arab American oral history interviews.
The Faris and Yamma Naff Arab American documents the immigration and assimilation of mostly Christian Syrian-Lebanese who came to America at the turn of the twentieth century. The immigrants were predominately-small land-owning peasants and artisans from the village of Syria and Lebanon. It was in these Syrian communities created by Arab immigrants that Dr. Naff sought interviews, photographs and personal papers.
Would you like to play a part in Arab American History; would you like to learn more about early Arab-America immigration? Help us transcribe these valuable Arab American oral history interviews.
The Faris and Yamma Naff Arab American documents the immigration and assimilation of mostly Christian Syrian-Lebanese who came to America at the turn of the twentieth century. The immigrants were predominately-small land-owning peasants and artisans from the village of Syria and Lebanon. It was in these Syrian communities created by Arab immigrants that Dr. Naff sought interviews, photographs and personal papers.
For Alixa Naff this pioneering generation of people offered a wealth of information on the immigrant experience and the critical role that peddling played. Naff conducted interviews in urban and small town communities with an emphasis on Midwestern states. Her informants included first and second generation Christians, Druze and Muslims. Locations of interviews included Detroit, Michigan because it was an industrial city with a large and stable Syrian population of all faiths. Oral history interviews deal with the sociological factors of the assimilation process. Most tapes have been fully transcribed or abstracted.