University of Michigan-Flint
Frances Willson Thompson Library

Genesee Historical Collections Center

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Name of the collection: Hani Bawardi
Inclusive years: 1888-1997
Quantity: 2 linear feet
Acquisition: This collection (donor no. 270) was donated in 2002.
Access: There are no restrictions. Publication references must be cited as "Hani Bawardi Collection, Arab-American Archive Project, Genesee Historical Collections Center, University of Michigan-Flint Library."
Photographs: 36 positive prints are kept in the photograph boxes.
Processed by: Paul Gifford.
 

SCOPE AND CONTENT
 

Hani Bawardi, a Palestinian-born Flint resident who received the degree of M.L.S. from the University of Michigan-Flint and at this writing a Ph.D. student at Wayne State University, assembled these materials in order to document the history of Arab-Americans in Flint. The collection includes videotapes and transcriptions of interviews he conducted as well as photocopies of family papers and the records of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Flint.

The interviews or oral histories are exclusively of immigrants to Flint, Michigan, from Arab countries or their children, conducted in the 1990s. Most are in videotape form. The three that were transcribed are with Amin (Jack) Hamady and Lily, his wife; Sylvia Sophiea; and Woodrow Wilson Skaff, all representatives of Arab families who settled in Flint between 1906 and 1920. Bawardi also photocopied personal papers that belonged to Ameen Farah (1888-1975), a Flint grocer and Nazareth native, including diplomas and certificates and other documents, both in Arabic and English, and legal papers concerning a complaint by Tom Joubran against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, 1978-1985. The remainder of the collection consists of the records of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, a parish established by Arab immigrants in 1936 in Flint. Apart from a commemorative program published in 1936 and photocopies of a few other papers documenting the church's founding, most of the material dates from the 1950s and later. This includes minutes of the Board of Trustees, church bulletins, programs, directories, as well as records of the Ladies' Auxiliary and SOYO. It also includes papers of Fr. Basil Kalekas, 1970-1985.
 

FOLDER LIST
 

BOX 1
Interview transcriptions
    Amin (Jack) and Lily Hamady, 1997
    Woodrow Wilson Skaff, 1997
    Sylvia Sophiea, 1995
Papers (photocopies)
    Ameen Farah, 1888-1942
    Tom Joubran, 1978-1985
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church - Records, 1936-1995
    Constitution
    Miscellaneous, 1936-1944
    Board of Trustees
        Minutes
            1953-1955
            1956
            1957-1958
            1959-1960
            1961-1962
            1963-1964
            1965-1966
            1967-1968
            1969-1970
            1971-1972
    Parish Council
        Minutes and treasurer's reports
            1975-1976
            1977-1980
            1981-1982
            1983
            1984-1985
            1986-1989
    Bulletins
        1983
        1987
        1988
        1989
        1990
        1991
        1992

BOX 2
        1993
        1994
        1995
    Bulletins (monthly)
        1993-1994
        1995
    Financial and miscellaneous, 1967-1977
    Correspondence, 1958-1989
    Survey, 1984
        (1 of 2)
        (2 of 2)
    Clippings, undated
    SOYO - Minutes, 1962-1968
    Ladies' Auxiliary
        Minutes
            1960-1967
            1968-1973
            1974-1978
    Dedication, 1972
    Patron Saints Day programs, 1965, 1968
    Directories, 1976?-1996
Fr. Basil Kalekas - Papers
    Correspondence, 1970-1983
    Papers, 1965-1970
Videotapes of interviews
    Middle Eastern Festival; Sally Joseph, 1995 (1); Sylvia Sophiea, 1995 (5) (two copies)
    H. Farrah (2); Samira Ghantos (3); George Abujamra (4), 1995
    Ed Khori; Tom Joubran
    Joe Faris, 1995 (6); John Salamon (7); Vera Farah (8); T. Mansour (9)
    A. Mansour (9); Shaker Brackett (10)
    Jack Hamady, 1997 (two sessions)
    Woodrow Wilson Skaff, 1997
    Tribute to Sam Farah (two copies)