The Syrian Community in New Castle and Its Unique Alawi Component, 1900-1940 Anthony B
The Syrian Community in New Castle and Its Unique Alawi Component, 1900-1940 Anthony B. Toth L Introduction and immigration are two important and intertwined phenomena in Pennsylvania's history from 1870 to INDUSTRIALIZATIONWorld War II.The rapid growth of mining, iron and steel pro- duction, manufacturing, and railroads during this period drew millions of immigrants. In turn, the immigrants had a significant effect on their towns and cities. The largest non-English-speaking— groups to jointhe industrial work force — the Italians and Poles have been the sub- jects of considerable scholarly attention. 1 Relatively little, however, has been published about many of the smaller but still significant groups that took part in the "new immigration/' New Castle's Syrian community is one such smaller group. 2 In a general sense, it is typical of other Arabic-speaking immigrant com- munities which settled inAmerican industrial centers around the turn of the century — Lawrence, Fall River, and Springfield, Mass.; Provi- Writer and editor Anthony B. Toth earned his master's degree in Middle East history from Georgetown University. He performed the research for this article while senior writer for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Re- search Institute. He has also written articles on the Arab-American communities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Worcester, Massachusetts. —Editor 1 Anyone researching the history of immigrants and Pennsylvania industry cannot escape the enlightening works of John E.Bodnar, who focuses main- ly on the Polish and Italian experiences. In particular, see his Workers' World: Kinship, Community and Protest in an Industrial Society, 1900- 1940 (Baltimore, 1982); Immigration and Industrialization: Ethnicity in an American MillTown, 1870-1940 (Pittsburgh, —1977); and, with Roger Simon and Michael P.
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