Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com www.Ebook777.com Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com Between Arab and White www.Ebook777.com AMERICAN CROSSROADS Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, Peggy Pascoe, George Sánchez, and Dana Takagi Between Arab and White Race and Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora Sarah M. A. Gualtieri UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley . Los Angeles . London Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com University of California Press, one of the most dis- tinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing schol- arship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more informa- tion, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2009 by The Regents of the University of Califor- nia Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gualtieri, Sarah M. A. Between Arab and White : race and ethnicity in the early Syrian American diaspora / Sarah M.A. Gualtieri. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn: 978-0-520-25532-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn: 978-0-520-25534-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Syrian Americans—Race identity—History. 2. Syrian Americans—Ethnic identity—History. 3. Syrian Americans—History. 4. United States— Race relations. I. Title. E184.S98G835 2009 305.892'75691073—dc22 2009003364 Manufactured in the United States of America 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 10987654321 The paper used in this publication meets the mini- mum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). www.Ebook777.com For my brother Mark, 1963–2007 and our precious mother, Peggy, 1924–2008 “Go well, stay well” Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Note on Terms and Transliterations xv Introduction 1 1. From Internal to International Migration 21 2. Claiming Whiteness: Syrians and Naturalization Law 52 3. Nation and Migration: Emergent Arabism and Diasporic Nationalism 81 4. The Lynching of Nola Romey: Syrian Racial Inbetweenness in the Jim Crow South 113 5. Marriage and Respectability in the Era of Immigration Restriction 135 Conclusion 155 Epilogue: Becoming Arab American 165 Notes 191 Bibliography 233 Index 257 Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com Illustrations 1. Map of “Greater Syria” 13 2. Mere Hemcy, participant in the Chicago World’s Fair, 1893 35 3. Mere Alli Harfush, participant in the Chicago World’s Fair, 1893 36 4. Sultana Alkazin, her unnamed husband, and her son Fred in Beirut, ca. 1887 42 5. Sultana Alkazin, Atlantic City, early to mid-1900s 43 6. Major Syrian populations in the United States, 1920 49 7. George Shishim, Los Angeles, ca. 1909 59 8. The Moshy Store, advertised in al-Hoda, 1899 96 9. Photo from the play Anna Ascends, printed in the Syrian World, 1927 143 ix www.Ebook777.com Acknowledgments This book has traveled with me to several different homes, and I am in- debted to many people along the way. I thank my mentors at the Uni- versity of Chicago for their support of the project in its earliest stages: Rashid Khalidi, Kathleen Niels Conzen, and Leora Auslander. To Rashid I owe special thanks for introducing me to the richness of modern Mid- dle Eastern history and for instilling in me an appreciation for transna- tional perspectives. Michael Suleiman of Kansas State University pro- vided advice that helped strengthen my argument. More generally, I am grateful for his pioneering work in Arab American studies. I have been fortunate to teach in supportive environments where I benefited from the insights of colleagues and friends. Nancy Fix Ander- son welcomed me to Loyola University New Orleans and helped me find my moorings there. In New Orleans I found friendship among a small group of people whose love for the “city that time forgot” moved and inspired me. I am still plotting adventures with Hana Safah and Susanne Dietzel, the pillars of that group. In Los Angeles, Eva Kanso, Clementine Oliver, Gil Hochberg, and Augie Robles have helped me work through challenges in my research while reminding me that it is sometimes more important to go to the beach. I thank them for their care and hospitality. Farika McCarron, my friend since childhood in Ottawa, has graced my life with her love and humor. My move to the University of Southern California was a smooth one thanks to the warm reception of colleagues in the Department of History. xi xii Acknowledgments George Sánchez and Lois Banner have been exceedingly generous with their time. They both read drafts of the manuscript and gave me feedback that made it a better book. Ramzi Rouighi offered important suggestions at a crucial stage of revision. I am grateful for his input and for his irrever- ence. Lon Kurashige and Jason Glenn commented on different parts of the manuscript and gave me sound advice. I am grateful to Lori Rogers, Joe Styles, La Verne Hughes, and Brenda Johnson for helping me get over ad- ministrative hurdles. I thank Steve Ross for his encouragement and leader- ship as chair of the History Department. My colleagues, students, and the staff in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity have been a won- derful source of intellectual comradeship. I always walked out of my chair Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s office feeling fortified and ready to take on the next challenge. I am also grateful for the financial support I received from the Univer- sity of Southern California in the form of a Zumberge Research and Innovation Fund Award. Earlier fellowships from the Fulbright-Hays Commission of the Department of Education supported my research in Syria. While research and writing can be a solitary enterprise, I am blessed to have found comrades in archives, universities, and conferences. I met Eliane Fersan in Lebanon in 2003 while she was writing her thesis on Lebanese emigration using French consular reports. We have, since then, shared doc- uments, stories, and a passion for uncovering the history of the mahjar. I thank her for her friendship and enthusiasm for my project. I also thank Mona Khalidi, Carole Shammas, Maher Barakat, Guita Hourani, Akram Khater, Paul Tabar, Jeff Lesser, Michelle Hartman, Nadine Naber, Joseph Haiek, Sue Braovac, Tatjana Pavlovic, and Paul Ortiz for their support of my work. Kelly Aide opened his home to me and provided contacts for my research on Syrians and Lebanese in the South. Norman Lahood of Val- dosta, Georgia, was gracious and helpful. George Lipsitz and Barbara Aswad wrote detailed readers’ reports on the manuscript that were ex- tremely useful and encouraging. Mary Severance, Elizabeth Berg, and Elis- abeth Magnus guided me through the revisions with tremendous skill. It has been a pleasure to work with my editor Niels Hooper at the University of California Press. This project could not have been finished without the assistance of the staffs at the numerous archives and libraries that I visited. I extend my thanks to the personnel at the Institut français d’études arabes de Damas, Maktabat al-Asad, the Ministère des affaires étrangères in Paris, the Im- migration History Research Center, the Center for Migration Studies, Acknowledgments xiii the Smithsonian Institution, the State Archives of Florida, and Eastern Michigan University. My greatest debt is to María Elena Martínez, whose brilliance con- tinues to humble me. I thank her for her engagement with my work and for her love and support throughout this long journey. I am particularly grateful for her grace and kindness during the completion of this book, which corresponded to a very painful time for my family. Finally, I would not have started on the scholarly path without the lov- ing encouragement of my father, Nino, and mother, Peggy. They are my original mentors and faithful guides. No words can adequately convey the depth of my gratitude for their sacrifices, their intellectual curiosity, and their courage. My sisters Joanna and Julia have sustained me with their love and generosity. In addition, Julia’s keen editorial eye saved me from many embarrassing errors. I dedicate this book to my dear brother Mark and to our precious mother, Peggy. My mother’s gift of her luminous pres- ence will forever radiate in my heart. Mark’s own path in the academic world was a difficult one. He nonetheless always supported me and took pride in my endeavors. His winsome humor and sharp wit made me laugh when I needed it most. I hope he knew how much this meant to me. Ottawa, summer 2008 Note on Terms and Transliterations I have used the term Syria in its late-Ottoman sense of bilad al-Sham, or geographical Syria: that is, the territory that now consists of the states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine. Although the majority of persons who immigrated to the United States during the period covered in this book came from what is now Lebanon, they most often referred to themselves as “Syrians.” I have therefore used this term instead of hy- phenated terms like Syro-Lebanese or Syrian-Lebanese. Mount Lebanon refers to the territory comprising the northern and southern districts of the Lebanon range, which became an autonomous administrative unit (called mutasarrifiyya) in 1861. I use Lebanon to designate the French- mandated territory and the independent Lebanese Republic. Arabic words are transliterated according to the system found in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, with certain modifications. Aside from ayn (^) and hamza (\), all other diacritical marks have been omit- ted. In cases where another spelling is commonly found in Western litera- ture, I have followed that usage: thus “Beirut,” not “Bayrut,” and “Homs,” not “Hims.” I have transliterated individual and family names as the individuals themselves chose to do so; thus “Mokarzel,” not “Mukarzal.” Finally, names of newspapers and journals are transliterated and translated according to their mastheads.