Collections by Name | Collections by Region

Arab and Arab-American Collections

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.

Donors and Fieldworkers

Yvonne R. Lockwood, William G. Lockwood, Sally Howell

Exhibitions

"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.

"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.

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.

Embroidered Wool Coat, c1900, Bethlehem