On April 25, 2024, supporters of the Arab Indianapolis project were proud to dedicate the Syrian Quarter marker at Lucas Oil Stadium, where Syrian immigrants developed the first Arabic-speaking neighborhood in Indianapolis. Speakers included Maria Nimri, St. George Church member; Josh Chitwood, filmmaker of When We Were Syrian and descendant of a Syrian Quarter family; Ron Ellis, grandson of Abraham and Latifa Freije; State Sen. Fady Qaddoura; State Sen. Andrea Hunley; Casey Pfeiffer, Indiana Historical Bureau marker program director; and yours truly.

The dedication ceremony came two years after the Arab Indianapolis Foundation, Inc., applied to the Indiana Historical Bureau (IHB), a division of the Indiana State Library, for the marker. You can see the parts of the application that establish the presence of the neighborhood here. For a video and lesson plan on the Syrian Quarter, check out PBS Learning Media.

The dedication ceremony was a moving experience for many of the speakers and the audience, as well. It also marked the official end of the Arab Indianapolis community history project.

There are over 700 historical markers around the state, but until this marker was approved by the IHB, only one–in Terre Haute–celebrated the contributions of Arab Americans to Indiana. The majority of the funding for the $3,300 marker and its installation came from donations to the Arab Indianapolis Foundation with additional support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.