23-Lebanese and Syrian Texans

23-Lebanese and Syrian Texans
Early Immigrants
Lebanon is located in the Middle East.
It is bordered by Syria on the north and east,
Israel on the south, and the Mediterranean
Sea on the west. Until 1920, when Lebanon
became an independent country, it was part
of Syria. All the people were called Syrians
until 1920. Both countries were part of the
Roman, Byzantine, Mongol, and Ottoman
Empires.
The first Arabic-speaking Syrian, Hadji Ali,
arrived with Greek and Turkish shipmates on
the Texas coast at Indianola in 1856. They
came with 33 camels! Just before the Civil
War, the United States Army wanted to start The Serur brothers, Tim, Fred, George, and Ellis, are
camel transportation between Camp Verde, out with their Uncle CM Haddad, but what are they
Texas, and San Diego, California. A couple doing with the long cane poles?
years later, Mrs. Watson, an Englishwoman,
brought another shipload of camels and
sewing items from a big, black satchel, or bag,
Arabs to Houston for her nearby ranch.
along the dusty country roads of Austin to
earn a living. Later opening 'a restaurant and
Lebanese and Syrian Settlers
general store on Congress Avenue, he was
able to help his brothers get started in busiMost Arabic-speaking immigrants came to
ness and in 1902 brought his wife to Austin.
Texas between 1880 and World War 1. Texas's
first Syrian family was Professor Joseph
Arbeely, who had been president of a Syrian
college. There he taught Arabic to American
missionaries and helped translate the Arabic
Bible. He brought his family to America in
1878, and two of his sons settled in Austin a
few years later.
Also in 1881 Cater Joseph Azar, a teacher in a
Presbyterian school in Lebanon, began sending his children to America to escape Turkish
rule. Eight of his sons and a daughter settled
in Austin, where they took the family name of
Joseph. Son Isaac began to sell laces and other
The Lebanese and Syrians settled in cities and
towns across Texas. While most of the early
settlers were Christian, those coming later in
the 20th century were Muslim.
The 2000 census counted 5,704 Lebanese
Texans and 2,249 Syrian Texans. Many live
in Beaumont, El Paso, Austin, and Houston.
Lebanese and Syrian
Cultural Folkways
The immigrants keep close family ties with
family members in Lebanon and Syria and
often visit their homelands. The Houston
community groups are well known for useing Arabic as a family language and continue
cultural traditions at gatherings called sahrias.
The sahrias, held in family homes, clubs, or
churches, include dances such as the dabke,
or circle dance, Arabic music, costumes, and
foods of their homeland.
Another dance from these countries on the
Mediterranean is called the belly dance in
Texas. It is one of the oldest forms of dance
and probably started as a religious ritual.
When this Middle Eastern dance came to the
Chicago World's Fair in 1893, it shocked everyone with its rolling, vibrating belly movements. Sometimes called Oriental dance, it's
great exercise!
Special recipes of the Middle East are becoming Texas favorites. In the ten Lebanese restaurants in Houston, the menu is filled with
delicious dishes such as lamb shish kabobs,
pickled turnips, hummus and pita bread,
baklava, date cookies, and cardamon-flavored
coffee. Cucumbers, garlic, mint, and olive oil
mixed into yogurt is a favorite appetizer at the
restaurants.
Rug merchants can be found in all Texas
cities. Hand-woven carpets are made in all
Middle Eastern countries with designs, colors, and weave special to each area.
Carpets are often passed down through the
generations in a family because they were
prized possessions of the first immigrants.
The Houston Oriental Rug Study Society
with fifty members was formed in 1989. The
group meets 11 times a year to learn more
about the rugs from Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon and Syria.
Amazing Lebanese
and Syrian Texans
Najeeb Elias Halaby (1878-1928) was born
in Aleppo, Syria, and came to New York during the 1890s. He lived with his brother,
Habeeb, working as an importer of Middle
Eastern goods. When Najeeb arrived in
Texas, he married a ranch woman. They lived
in Dallas, and he worked as an oil dealer. In
1915 Halaby's son, also named Najeeb Elias
Halaby, attended Stanford University and
Yale Law School. He worked with Presidents
Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy in jobs at
the State Department, Defense Department,
and NATO. His daughter, Lisa, Queen Noor
al Hussein of Jordan, was the first Americanborn queen of an Arab country. She was the
wife of the late King Hussein, who died in
1999.
Joseph Maroun Haggar (1893-1965) was
born in Jezzeen, Lebanon. At the age of 13,
he immigrated to Mexico. Mter a stopover
in New Orleans, he decided to remain in
America and lived in St. Louis, where he married and started his family. The family finally
settled in Dallas, where he went to work for
the Oberman Pant Company.
In 1927 he began his own company with 80
used sewing machines. Using assembly-line
methods, the company mass-produced pants
that were sold at popular prices. Instead of
using denim or work fabrics, he bought suit
cloth and made a new kind of dress pants
he called "slacks." The Haggar Company is
a multimillion-dollar business and in 2003
was the world's largest manufacturer of men's
slacks.
Web site: www.texancultures.utsa.edu/texansoneandall