essay

The institutional development of the Arab-American community of Boston: a sketch

Arab Americans, studies in assimilation (1)Published In 1969 • Pages: 67-83

By: Hagopian, Elaine Catherine.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a history of Boston's Syrian-Lebanese institutions and the changing identity and political involvement of Arab-Americans as a result of the Middle East conflict. Hagopian discusses the early Syrian-Lebanese settlement in Boston, called 'Little Syria' and the first Syrian-Lebanese churches. In the middle period, 1930-1960, a prosperous Syrian-Lebanese community moved out of their ghetto and formed various clubs and community trusts. A national federation of organizations was formed in 1932. Although the Federation took a position with regard to the Palestine question, most of its energy was directed towards local issues and honoring its more illustrious members. Hagopian criticizes it for understanding the Mideast crisis in only parochial terms and not in the broader geopolitical context. The Federation fell apart in the 1960s and was replaced by the American Arabic Association which did champion and promote a pan-Arabic political agenda and identity.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Status, role, and prestige
Sodalities
Pressure politics
Congregations
Religious denominations
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Arab Americans
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1999
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Unknown
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard; 1998
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
not specified
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1890-1968
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Boston, Mass., United States
NotesAdditional notes
Elaine C. Hagopian
Includes bibliographical references
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Arab Americans