Laying New Tracks: Syrians in Grand Rapids & the Midwest INT 100/201 APPROVED!

Thursday, October 6, 2022
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Allendale Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students

Images from the 1923 passport of Syrian migrants Niemi and Mary Ghareeb, who helped found St. George's Antiochian Church in Grand Rapids. Courtesy of Grand Rapids Public Museum & the Ghareeb family.

INT 100/201 APPROVED

In the early 1900s, thousands of people left Greater Syria for better economic prospects, many settling in the Midwest. Grand Rapids had a large Syrian population of shopkeepers and railroad workers, who founded Christian churches and Muslim societies in the city while building up key aspects of the area’s twentieth-century infrastructure.

Join the Kutsche Office of Local History and Dr. Ashley Johnson Bavery on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 3:00 pm in the Chamberlain Multipurpose Room of the Niemeyer Learning & Living Center. Dr. Bavery, Assistant Professor of History at Eastern Michigan University, will trace the circuitous routes Syrian migrants took to reach Grand Rapids, where they established benevolent societies that provided medical insurance, immigration aide, and camaraderie. Ultimately, the talk will explore the long and enduring roots of Arab Americans in Grand Rapids and across the Midwest.

Featured images are from the 1923 passport of Syrian migrants Niemi and Mary Ghareeb, who helped found St. George's Antiochian Church in Grand Rapids. Courtesy of Grand Rapids Public Museum & the Ghareeb family.

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Location Information

The Frederik Meijer Honors College is at 4046 Calder Dr, Allendale MI 49401.

The event will be held in the Chamberlain Multipurpose Room within the Honors College building.

Visitors to this event can park freely and without a permit in campus lots K1, H2, and H4.

Click here for a campus map showing the building and parking areas.

Download parking map for the Allendale Campus

Contact Information

Kutsche Office of Local History

[email protected] - gvsu.edu/kutsche - 616-331-8099

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This event was added to the calendar by Mary Williford (willifom@gvsu.edu) on Thursday, August 25, 2022 and was last updated on Friday, September 16, 2022 at 12:16 p.m.