Waubonsee Community College

Muslims of the heartland, how Syrian immigrants made a home in the American Midwest, Edward E. Curtis IV

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

contains biographical information

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Muslims of the heartland

bibliography

1257315226

Edward E. Curtis IV

how Syrian immigrants made a home in the American Midwest

"This book rejects the stereotype of the Midwest as bleached-out Christian country. It unearths a surprising and intimate history of the first two generations of Syrian Muslims in the Midwest who, in spite of discrimination, created a life that was Arab, American, and Muslim all at the same time"--, Provided by publisher"The American Midwest is often thought of as uniformly white, and shaped exclusively by Christian values. However, this view of the region as an unvarying landscape fails to consider a significant community at its very heart. Muslims of the Heartland uncovers the long history of Muslims in a part of the country where many readers would not expect to find them. Edward E. Curtis IV, a descendant of Syrian Midwesterners, vividly portrays the intrepid men and women who busted sod on the short-grass prairies of the Dakotas, peddled needles and lace on the streets of Cedar Rapids, and worked in the railroad car factories of Michigan City. This intimate portrait follows the stories of individuals such as farmer Mary Juma, pacifist Kassem Rameden, poet Aliya Hassen, and bookmaker Kamel Osman from the early 1900s through World War I, the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, and World War II. Its story-driven approach places Syrian Americans at the center of key American institutions like the assembly line, the family farm, the dance hall, and the public school, showing how the first two generations of Midwestern Syrians created a life that was Arab, Muslim, and American, all at the same time. Muslims of the Heartland recreates what the Syrian Muslim Midwest looked, sounded, felt, and smelled like—from the allspice-seasoned lamb and rice shared in mosque basements to the sound of the trains on the Rock Island Line rolling past the dry goods store. It recovers a multicultural history of the American Midwest that cannot be ignored." -- Publisher's description

Introduction: my Syrian Muslim heartland -- Muslim South Dakota from Kadoka to Sioux Falls -- Homesteading western North Dakota -- Peddling in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a town of ethnic tradition -- Michigan City, Indiana, and Syrian Muslim industrial workers -- Muslim life and the agricultural depression in North Dakota -- Cedar Rapids' grocery business and the growth of a Muslim midwestern town -- From Sioux Falls and Michigan City to Detroit, capital of the Muslim Midwest -- Conclusion: a big party in the 1950s

How Syrian immigrants made a home in the American Midwest