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Home > My Ancestors > Syrian-Lebanese
> Timeline: 1850-1949
- 1854:
Antun Bish'alani, reportedly the first Syrian immigrant to the United
States, arrives in Boston.
- 1863:
A church in Worcester, MA sells Syrian curios sent by Antonius Yanni
of Tripoli to support the Union cause.
- 1878:
First Lebanese family recorded as entering the United States.
- 1880s:
Syrian immigration increases. They first settle in the South Cove
section of Boston's South End (generally bounded by Essex on the north,
Broadway on the south, Albany on the east, and Harrison on the west).
- 1880s-1914:
This period of Arab immigration comprised almost exclusively Christians
from Syria (which includes what is now Lebanon). The three Christian
sects are Orthodox, Melkite, and Maronite.
- 1888:
Brothers George, Daniel and Dominic Faour immigrate to Boston and
establish themselves in Oliver Place and later East Street Place.
The money they make in a dry goods store allows them to start the
first American Syrian-owned bank in New York in 1891.
- 1890-1900:
Approximately 5,000 Syrians enter the United States per year.
- 1893:
First church in the Syrian community, Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon,
established in Boston; it is for Maronite Christians.
- 1895:
Poet Kahlil Gilbran immigrates to Boston.
- 1896:
The first Maronite church opens in Lawrence, Massachusetts
- 1898:
A Boston social worker states, "The Syrians are the most foreign
of all our foreigners."
- 1899:
Bureau of Immigration adds Syrian to its classifications. Paul Jabbour
arrives from Sidon (in present-day Lebanon) to serve the Fall River,
MA Syrian community as a lay Presbyterian preacher.
- 1900:
George Malouf emigrates from Lebanon to be priest of new St. George
Orthodox Church in the South Cove (now located in West Roxbury).
- 1903:
Kahlil Gilbran publishes his
first work, "al-Musiqa." His first exhibit of paintings and drawings
is held at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts on May 21.
- 1904:
Boston Evening Telegraph on May 3 reviews Gilbran's drawings
complimenting the "young Syrian, who, in his drawings, manifests the
poetical and imaginative temperament of his race."
- 1905:
The first Melkite church, St. Joseph's, opens in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
- 1908:
The Golden Link is established in Boston; Kahlil Gilbran often attends
this organization, which allows Syrian-Lebanese writers to meet and
discuss Arabic classics.
- 1909:
Syria, the first Arabic Newspaper in Boston, starts. Its name
changes to Alarouss (the Bride) and it soon folds because of
competition from New York papers.
- 1909-14:
90% of Syrian immigrants are Christian, 10% Muslim.
- 1910:
Census describes 2,700 Syrians in the Lawrence
(Elm/Oak/Haverhill mill area).
- 1912:
The Syrian community plays major roles in the Lawrence Bread and Roses
strike. Syrian Drum Corps lead the parade; organizer Joseph Ettor
is half-Syrian; strikers hold meetings at a Syrian church; and Syrian
soup kitchens serve the strikers.c.
- 1912:
Syrians begin moving to West Roxbury and in the 1950s, most of the
"Little Syria" area of South Cove is relocated to West Roxbury.
- 1914-45:
Syrian immigration declines significantly during and between the wars.
- 1917:
Syrian Ladies' Aid Society founded in Boston and later headquartered
at 44 West Newton Street.
- 1919:
Rev. Abraham Mitrie Rihbany, a Unitarian minister in Brookline, MA,
writes America, Save the Near East. It is not as popular as
his The Syrian Christ published three years earlier. Both works
allow an Arab-American to introduce American readers to Syria and
other Arab countries in English.
Syrians move into Shawmut Avenue in South
End (generally bounded by Dover on the north, Rutland on the south,
Albany on the east, and Tremont on the west).
- 1920:
Syrian Education Society founded to provide scholarships for the community.
- 1923:
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet published.
- 1928:
Child Welfare Society established to raise money for child welfare;
it eventually buys the first Syrian owned camp in the United States,
Camp Hammond.
- 1924-65:
Immigrant Quota Act and Johnson Reed Immigration Act hold Syrian-Lebanese
immigrants to under 200/year.
- 1926:
Approximately 25,000 Syrians live in Massachusetts and 8,000 in Boston
(the third largest Arab community in United States).
- 1929:
Habib Katibah works as a special correspondent in the Near East for
the Boston Globe.
- 1929-1930:
A social club of Syrian College students called the Caravaneers puts
on dramas.
- 1930:
Syrians of Boston protest the lowering of the immigrant quotas, and
their spokesperson is Elias F. Shamon. The Boston Syrian Tercentenary
Committee, organized by Labeebee Hanna, presents a celebration of
Syrian-Arabs at Boston Symphony Hall.
- 1932:
Towfiek Maloof starts the Syrian American Federation of New England
in Boston at 44 West Newton Street. This Federation is the country's
first regional alliance of Arab clubs (from Quincy, Lawrence, &
Worcester, Massachusetts and Pawtucket & Central Falls, Rhode
Island and New London, Connecticut) and is a precursor to the National
Federation, established in 1950.
- 1934:
Boston Judge Elias Shamon is appointed the first Syrian-Lebanese judge
in America.
- 1937:
Faris S. Malouf (immigrated 1907) becomes the first Syrian-Lebanese
in Boston city government as the street commissioner.
- 1938:
Harvard University honors the one-thousandth birthday of Arab philosopher
and poet Abu Al-Ala Al-Ma'arri.
- 1942:
Jacob Saliba is appointed as a special consultant for the Air Force,
for which work he is awarded a Legion of Merit.
- 1945-80:
More than 100,000 Arabs immigrate to the United States. This group
differs from earlier immigrants in that large numbers come from Iraq,
Egypt, Yemen, Palestine, and Morocco. In addition, between 70% and
90% are now Muslim.
- 1946:
The modern state of Lebanon comes into existence. The Syrian community
continues its charitable activities with the Nicholas G. Beram Veterans'
Association and Auxiliary.
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