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
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
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”
For more than a decade, I have been in touch with colleagues in Sweden about a possible visit there to begin an exploration of the lives of Muslim and Arab Swedes. I was finally able to follow through this month. My primary interlocutor was Dr. Frederic Brusi, a scholar of contemporary Sufism and an official at the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities, a … Continue reading Searching for Arab Sweden
While I was still writing Muslims of the Heartland: How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest (NYU Press, 2022), I became determined to take the book back to the places where its stories unfolded from the 1890s to the 1940s. At first, I thought that perhaps I should do one big road trip and invite people to come along as I visited … Continue reading Heartland Muslim Book Tour
Edward E. Curtis IV 