Name of the collection: Anthony Mansour Arab-American Collection
Inclusive years: 1984-2004
Quantity: 3 linear feet
ACQUISITION: The collection (donor no. 257) was given to the Genesee Historical Collections in May 1997 and August 2005.
ACCESS: There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
PHOTOGRAPHS: 17 photographs were removed and will be cataloged separately. The collection itself contains many digitally scanned and photocopied photographs.
PROCESSED BY: Paul Gifford, July 2011
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Anthony Mansour, born in Palestine, came to Flint as a young child in 1927. For many years he had a law practice in Flint. In the 1990s, he began to interview elderly Arab-Americans of Flint, which he recorded on audio and videotape. After 1997, under the auspices of the American Arab Heritage Council and later, with the aid of a research grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation, he undertook a more formal project. The result was The Peddler to Merchant Generation: Our Arab American Pioneers (for the American Arab Heritage Council, 2004).
SCOPE AND CONTENT
This collection consists primarily of interviews (on cassette tape, videotape, and DVD disks) Mansour conducted with members of the Flint-area Arab-American community. Individual Arabs began to come to Flint in the 1890s, and by 1903 had started applying for U.S. citizenship. Immigration continued into the years of the quota system, and by the 1920s, Flint had a “Little Syria” neighborhood, near the Buick complex, as well as individual homes throughout the city, mostly connected to the stores they ran. The earliest immigrants were peddlers, and they soon opened groceries, although some worked in the automobile factories. The community was diverse. The earliest immigrants appear to have been Muslims from Damascus; they subsequently returned. Most of the ones who stayed in Flint wereMaronites and Druze from villages in Lebanon and Orthodox from Palestine (mainly Nazareth), as well as some Catholics from Palestine. The generation born in Flint prospered, many working in the professions and in retail business.
In addition to interviews, the collection contains copies of photographs, documents, genealogies, and miscellaneous items. The copies may be both photocopies and scans on disks.
Related collections include the Hani Bawardi Papers and the James Albee Papers.
ORGANIZATION
This collection is organized by format and then alphabetically.
FOLDER LISTING
BOX 1
PAPER FOLDERS
Alex, John, family
Alick, Sam, family
Brackett, Shaker, family
Deibis family
Essa family
Farah family
Faris family
Ferris, Joseph, family
Ferris brothers
Gantos, Anton
Gantos, Shafik
Gazell family
Haddad family
Hamady family
Hamo family
Holaly, Nick, family
Igram family
Isaac family
Jarou family
Joseph family
Kelush, Nafe, family
Khouri family
Macksood family
Mansour, Abdullah, family
Maroun family
Mattar family
Monsour, Issa, family
Mukdsi family
Nickola family
Okal, William and Lena
Rasak family
Rizik family
Romley family
Saab, Ghassan
Salim family
Saseen family
Sefa family
Shaheen families
Shaker family
Shemes family
Skaff family
Sob family
Sobe family
Solomon family
Tabit family
Thomas family
Zerka family
Gift agreements
DISKS (CDs and DVDs)
Interviews
Bomorra (DVD)
Deibis, Violet (DVD)
Essa family (DVD)
Farah, Vera – audio (CD)
Ferris, Joseph, Feb. 26, 2003 (DVD)
Hamady, Roy and Ernest (DVD)
Holaly, Nick, Apr. 8, 2002 (DVD)
Joseph, Matilda, no picture at her request (DVD)
Kelush, James, Apr. 2, 2003 (DVD)
Marino, Mary Romley (DVD)
Monsour, Dr. Roger, long leader (DVD)
Rasak, George, Mar. 1, 2003 (DVD)
Sob, Nadia (DVD)
Scans of family photographs and similar items
Alick, Sam, family
Brackett, Thomas; Jalbout men
Zerka market
Deibis family (no. 52)
Farah family
Farah, Vera (no. 50) (original on JVC DV tape)
Ferris, John, and George Faris
Gantos, Anton
Hamady family (no. 54)
Hamady, Kamol, photos
Hamady family photos
Hamady, Jack, 1985
Hamady, Ted
Holaly family
Joseph family
Joseph, Dr. Michael; copy of original cassette, Jan. 11, 1985
Kalush/Kelush photos
(1 of 3)
(2 of 3)
(3 or 3)
Khouri, Ed, interview
Khouri-Farah family photos
(1 of 2)
(2 of 2)
Mansour family phots
Maroun family photos
Monsour family photos
Nickola, John, interview, Sept. 23, 2002
Rasak family photos
Romley family
Salim family
Saseen family
Tabit photos, July 16, 2003
Thomas family
Zerka family
BOX 2
CASSETTE TAPES (interviews)
Alex, Thomas, July 3, 2002
Alick, Ed, June 21, 2002
Farah, Farouz, interview by Christopher Mansour, Jan. 18, 1985
Farah, Sam, Dec. 30, 1984
Gantos, Samir and Samira, Jan. 9, 1985; Mansour, Albert, Jan. 15, 1995; interviews by Christopher Mansour
Hamady, Theodore, Mar. 12, 2003
Igram, Jameel, Jan. 5, 1985
Joseph, Dr. Michael, interview by Christopher Mansour, Jan. 11, 1985
Khouri, John
Lowe, Joanne Okal
Macksood family; Urich, Joan, Feb. 25, 2003
Mansour, Jim
(1 of 2)
(2 of 2)
Maroun, Jim
Maxwell, Mamie Alick
Rizik, Michael B., Jan. 16, 1985
Rizik, Michael, Jan. 8, 1985
Salim, Fred
Salim, Norman, family
Shaheen, John, interview by Christopher Mansour, Jan. 7, 1985
Tabit, Irwin and Edward R.
VIDEOTAPES
Alick family: Alick, Edward, Maxwell, Mamie, June 21, 2002
Bomorra, Nadia
Brackett, Shaker, May 10, 2002; Maroun, Jim, July 26, 2002
Farah, Farous (copy from audiotape)
Farah, Sam
Farah, Sam – tribute
Farah, Sam; Okal, Bill; Morning Star; Rizik, Mike, Sr.; Igram, Jameel; Farris, Mary; Okal, Lena
Farah, Ted – World War II home movies
Farah, Ted – World War II home movies; Mansour, Al – home movies
Faris family (Helen and Josephine), June 30, 2004
Faris, George, family, Burgess, Helen, Knight, Josephine
Faris, Joe, Aug. 6, 1995; Solomon, John; Farah, Vera; Mansour, T.
Hamady, Elizabeth
Hamady, Jack, August, 1997, October 1997
Hamady, Kenneth, June 13, 2002
Hammo, George, Sept. 25, 2002; Mattar, Woody, Sept. 9, 2002
Igram, Jameel
Igram, Jameel, Jan. 5, 1985
Isaac, Daisy, Sept. 6, 2002; Thomas, Joseph and Phyllis, May 13, 2003
Jamra, George, May 13, 2002
Joseph, Sally, Sept. 27, 2002
BOX 3
Kalush, Joe – home movies
Mansour, Anthony J.
Mansour, Joseph, June 26, 2002
Mansour, Theodore Paul, Mar. 1, 2003; Hamady, Sol, by Ernest and Roy Hamady
Marino, Mary Romley, Oct. 28, 2002
Middle Eastern Festival; Joseph, Sally, July 29, 1991; Sophiea, Sylvia, Aug. 3, 1995
Morning Star, Jan. 8, 1985; Rizik, Mike, Jan. 16, 1985
Nassif, Jeanette, Apr. 10, 2003
Nickola, John D.
Rasak, George
Rasak, George, Apr. 1, 2003; Aremia, Frank, Oct. 22, 2003
Rasak, George; Alex, Tom, July 3, 2002
Saab, Ghassan, 2004
Saab, Ghassan, Mar. 13, 2003; Sobe, Emmett, by Harold Sobe
Salim, Norman, famiy, by Norma and Ellis Salim
Salim, Vickie Adado; Adado, Julia, July 26, 2002
Sefa, Joseph, Sept. 16, 2002
Shaheen, S. George, Aug. 22, 2002
Shaker, Lewis Wayne, Apr. 18, 2002
Skaff, Sept. 11, 1997
Sob, Nadia
Sobe, Harold, Nov. 7, 2002
Soloman, Edward, Mar. 6, 2003
St. George Senior Citizens’ Party
Zerka, Dr. John