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The Arab and Arab-American Collections
Embroidered Wool coat,
c1900. Bethlehem
Photo by Pearl Yee Wong
The largest and most concentrated community of Arab
Americans in the United
States live in metropolitan Detroit with smaller enclaves in Lansing,
western Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula. Peoples and cultures of the
Arab world and Arab Americans are represented in the collection by materials
on topics concerning textiles, musical instruments and traditional music,
food markets and bakeries, foodways and being Arab American.
The collections include textiles
and garments from Palestine, Syria, Saudia Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and
Turkey, dating from 1870 to the 1960s, acquired from private donors and
from the Camberlain Memorial Museum. The Arab American materials include
Palestinian garments, wind instruments, qanun, a pair of Chaldean dolls,
samples of calligraphy on glass, which were donated or acquired with research
support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Archival
materials include photographs, videos, audiotapes of interviews and music,
field reports, books, and articles.
Collectors/Fieldworkers:
Dr. Yvonne R. Lockwood, Dr.William G. Lockwood, and Sally Howell.
Publications:
Yvonne R. Lockwood and William G. Lockwood, "Continuity and Adaptation
of Arab-American Foodways." In Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream,
pp. 515-549, eds. Nabeel Abraham and Andrew Shryock. Detroit: Wayne State
University Press, 2000.
"Being American: An Arab American
Thanksgiving." The Meal: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food
and Cookery 2001, ed., Harlan Walker. Totnes, England: Prospect Books,
2002.
Yvonne R. Lockwood and Anan Ameri.
Arab Americans in Metro Detroit. A Pictorial History. Chicago:
Arcadia Publications, 2001.
Exhibitions:
"A Community Between Two Worlds: Arab Americans in Greater Detroit," Michigan
State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, November, 1998 - May,
1999; Detroit Historical Museum, March - October, 1998; Balch Institute
for Ethnic Studies, Philadelphia, February 16 - August 12, 2000; and The
Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, New York, November
7, 1999 - January 9, 2000. This exhibition, the research, and related
public programs were supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities,
the National Endowment for the Arts, the Michigan Council for Arts and
Cultural Affairs, the Michigan Humanities Council, and numerous corporate
and private funders.
"Textile Treasure of the Middle
East: From the Collections of the Michigan State University Museum," Michigan
State University Museum, November, 1998 - March, 1999.
Another related permanent display
of Arab American and Arab culture and history can be seen at the Arab
Community Center for Economic and Social Services, Dearborn.
--compiled by Lynne Swanson and Yvonne Lockwood, 2004.
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