Tag: Arab American

Midwest Federation Convention Program 1946

Unique Arab American Archive Launched

November 24, 2025 — The IU Indianapolis University Library has published an online, fully digital open-access archive of the Midwest Federation of American Syrian Lebanese Clubs (MFASLC). Containing over one thousand items ranging from annual convention programs and legal documents to photographs and correspondence among Arab American leaders, the archive is a unique addition to the sources available for the study of Arab American and … Continue reading Unique Arab American Archive Launched

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Syrian Ladies Aid Society of Michigan City

Originally appeared in Traces, Fall 2024, 48-54. Want to know more? You can research the Syrian Ladies Aid Society collection at the IU Indianapolis Library. Established in 1918 in Michigan City, Indiana, the Syrian Ladies Aid Society (SLAS) was a self-defined charitable organization that rendered mutual aid and supported the life of Syrian-Lebanese Christian communities in Michigan City. Its members were among the 1,460 Hoosiers … Continue reading Syrian Ladies Aid Society of Michigan City

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Audiobook for “Muslims of the Heartland” Now Out

The Muslims of the Heartland audiobook, narrated by yours truly, is now available on Apple Books, Audible, Amazon, and other places. The audio is produced by Kent Vernon, the same sound engineer that worked on Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History. The book tells the story of several Arabic-speaking Muslim families who settled in the Midwest before World War I and nurtured vibrant Arab American Muslim communities between World War I … Continue reading Audiobook for “Muslims of the Heartland” Now Out

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV
the-Syrian-Quarter-Dedication-Indpls-2024-

Syrian Quarter Marker Dedicated at Lucas Oil Stadium

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. … Continue reading Syrian Quarter Marker Dedicated at Lucas Oil Stadium

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Syrian Ark: No Longer Lost

This article, published by the Indiana Magazine of History and also available on Project Muse, is the first to document the historical significance of the Indianapolis-based Syrian Ark, the official newspaper of the Midwest Federation of Syrian American Clubs from 1936 to 1954. Extant copies of the periodical provide a detailed record of Arab, Syrian, and Lebanese Midwestern life in the middle twentieth century. Using … Continue reading Syrian Ark: No Longer Lost

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Moses of Cairo (Illinois)

Originally from Belt Magazine: April 24, 2023 By Edward Curtis IV  Around 1899, my great, great-grandfather, a man named Hanna Samaha, left his beautifully green three-thousand-foot-high village located in contemporary Lebanon where, on a clear day, you could see the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean. He landed at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the town of Cairo [pronounced “Care-oh”], Illinois. He … Continue reading Moses of Cairo (Illinois)

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Indiana Humanities offers funding to host “Arab Indianapolis”

20 Community Orgs To Get $250 Each Indiana Humanities, a statewide nonprofit that encourages Hoosiers to think, read and talk, is offering stipends to nonprofit organizations across the state to host screenings and discussions of the film Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History. Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History, hosted by author and IUPUI Professor Edward E. Curtis IV, directed and produced by local filmmaker Becky Fisher … Continue reading Indiana Humanities offers funding to host “Arab Indianapolis”

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Arab Indianapolis Documentary Now Streaming

Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History, directed and produced by local filmmaker Becky Fisher and shot by Vinnie Manganello, reveals a new chapter in the diverse history of central Indiana. It explores the first Arabic-speaking neighborhood in Indianapolis, the founding of St. George Church in the 1920s, the establishment of a prominent Arab American business on Monument circle, the service of Arab Americans in World War … Continue reading Arab Indianapolis Documentary Now Streaming

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Muslims of the Heartland: How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest

The American Midwest is often thought of as uniformly white, and shaped exclusively by Christian values. However, this view of the region as an unvarying landscape fails to consider a significant community at its very heart. Muslims of the Heartland uncovers the long history of Muslims in a part of the country where many readers would not expect to find them. Edward E. Curtis IV, … Continue reading Muslims of the Heartland: How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV