In this Conversation, we talked to Linda K. Jacobs about her interest in promoting Middle Eastern culture and knowledge in the United States. Having all four of her grandparents’ members of the New York Syrian Colony, Linda is at work on a study of all the Syrian colonies in the United States.

Linda K. Jacobs holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Archaeology/Anthropology and spent many years working on archaeological excavations and economic development projects in the Middle East. Dr. Jacobs is committed to promoting Middle Eastern culture and knowledge in the United States, founding KalimahPress in 2011 and sitting on the board of several Middle Eastern organizations, including the Near East Foundation and the Moise Khayrallah Center. All four of her grandparents were members of the New York Syrian Colony. Linda is the author of two books, both published by KalimahPress, and is at work on a study of all the Syrian colonies in the United States.

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
01:24 Relationship with the New York Colony
04:33 ‘Colony’
06:20 Syrians in 25&27 Washington Street
07:29 1890 Census
10:50 The first and only Syrian family in the United States
16:03 Kawkab America
19:13 ‘Social Geography’
25:05 Lebanese-Syrian immigrants
26:02 Economic nature of the Colony
30:53 George Forzly & Co Bankers
32:23 US-Syrian trade
34:35 Entering political life
36:40 Naguib Arbeely
40:10 American and Ottoman citizenships
42:08 Quick Q&A
45:37 Audience Q&A: Early Palestinian community in New York
48:36 Audience Q&A: Cultural and literary productions by Syrians in New York
51:00 Audience Q&A: Sectarian communities and immigration in 20th century
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Created and hosted by Mikey Muhanna,
Edited by: Ramzi Ramman
Theme music by Tarek Yamani

About the afikra Conversations:
Our long-form interview series features academics, arts, ‎and media experts who are helping document and/or shape the history and culture of the Arab world through their ‎work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community still walks away with new ‎found curiosity – and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first. ‎Following the interview there is a moderated town-hall style Q&A with questions coming from the live virtual audience ‎on Zoom.‎ Join the live audience:

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afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
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