A Community of Many Worlds: Arab Americans in New York City

by The Museum of the City of New York

Overview

New York City's main Arab communities exemplify the continuity and change that has taken place throughout the city's rich history. The Museum of the City of New York, in partnership with the Middle East Institute at Columbia University and a group of local Arab and non-Arab scholars, activists and educators, undertook a long overdue exploration of New York's Arab populations. The result is a revealing collection of writings and photographs that document and tell the stories of these communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815607397
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Series:	Arab American Writing
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Prominent New York author John Thorn (Total Baseball, the Armchair series) is the book’s editor, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Mike Wallace served as historical advisor. Among the essays are new contributions from sixteen highly respected historians, including Jaap Jacobs, Edwin Burrows, and Phillip Lopate.

Table of Contents

	Illustrations	ix
	Foreword	xi
	Preface	xiii
	Contributors	xvii
	Introduction	xxi
Part 1	Early Arab Immigration to New York
1.	New York: The Mother Colony	3
2.	The Syrian-Lebanese Community of South Ferry from Its Origin to 1977	11
3.	Impressions of New York City by Early Arab Immigrants	28
4.	Rare Sights: Images of Early Arab Immigration to New York City	46
5.	My Mother's Zither	54
6.	Cultural Traditions of Early Arab Immigrants to New York	74
7.	Being Arab American in New York: A Personal Story	83
8.	So, Who Are We? Who Am I?	90
Part 2	Arab New Yorkers in the Late Twentieth Century
9.	Inventing and Re-inventing the Arab American Identity	109
10.	The Changing Arab New York Community	124
11.	Arab Families in New York Public Schools	140
12.	The Syrian Jews of Brooklyn	156
13.	NY-MASJID: The Mosques of New York	170
14.	Arab Americans: Their Arts and New York City, 1970-2000	178
15.	Hollywood's Muslim Arabs	191
16.	Lebanese Women: The Beirut-New York Connection	213
17.	Being Arab American in New York: A Personal Story	226
	Afterword	237
	Notes	243
	Glossary	257
	Bibliography	263
	Index	269

Editorial Reviews

A collection of academics, poets, activists, and others contribute 17 essays that collectively draw a portrait of Arab American life in New York, from the early Syrian immigrants of the late 19th-century to the present. Personal recollections accompany more scholarly examinations of the mosques of the city, recent Arab contributions to the arts, cultural traditions of early immigrants, and anti-Arab bias in Hollywood films. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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