Tag: featured

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

Journal of Africana Religions, Once More

This past summer, I rejoined the staff of the Journal of Africana Religions, which I co-founded with Sylvester Johnson in 2011, as interim managing editor. When I left the journal in 2021, the journal was fully staffed. We had recruited three new editors; Prof. Johnson and long-time Managing Editor Jeremy Rehwaldt were also still serving. But by 2025, only two staff members, Prof. Johnson and … Continue reading Journal of Africana Religions, Once More

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

A Muslim American Curriculum for a Million

It may be one of the most important projects on which I have ever worked. For the past couple years, I have served as lead scholar for Hidden Voices: Muslim Americans in United States History, a curriculum written for the New York City Department of Education (DOE), which operates the largest single public school district in the country–over 900,000 students. The first volume is now … Continue reading A Muslim American Curriculum for a Million

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

National Arab American Book Prize for “Muslims of the Heartland”

In the summer of 1936, Arab American Muslims from across the Midwest arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to celebrate the first anniversary of the Rose of Fraternity mosque, also known as the Moslem Temple. It was a joyous affair. Local community members Elaine Graham, Lucille Mann, and Margaret Hamad sang, “To a Wild Rose.” Participants belted out Arabic songs, too. Several speeches were given in … Continue reading National Arab American Book Prize for “Muslims of the Heartland”

Unknown's avatarEdward E. Curtis IV

Arab Indianapolis Wins Three Emmys

I decided not to attend the 2023 awards ceremony for the Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences because I had already committed to teach at an NEH institute just two days after, and I promised myself I would no longer do back-to-back business trips. So, I stayed at home and watched the live stream from Cleveland. I tried not … Continue reading Arab Indianapolis Wins Three Emmys

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