Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Naff, Alixa, 1919-2013
label: Names
content: American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee
label: Names
content: Arab American Institute
label: Former owner
content: Archdioceses of Antiochan Orthodox, Melkites, and Maronites
label: Names
content: National Association of Arab Americans
label: Former owner
content: Southern Federation of Lebanese Clubs
label: Former owner
content: Spring Valley (Ill.) Syrian Orthodox Church
label: Names
content: Syrian Protestant Church
label: Names
content: Naff, Faris
label: Names
content: Naff, Yamna
place: label: Place
content: Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
label: Place
content: Cedar Rapids (Iowa)
label: Place
content: Dearborn (Mich.)
label: Place
content: Detroit (Mich.)
label: Place
content: Fort Wayne (Ind.)
label: Place
content: Los Angeles (Calif.)
label: Place
content: Spring Valley (Ill.)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Actors
label: Topic
content: Associations, institutions -- voluntarism
label: Topic
content: Automobile industry workers
label: Topic
content: Businessmen -- Arab Americans
label: Topic
content: Emigration and immigration
label: Topic
content: Emigration and immigration -- Arab Americans
label: Topic
content: Ethnic groups -- cultural history
label: Topic
content: Naturalization -- Arab Americans -- United States
label: Topic
content: Peddlers
label: Topic
content: Press -- Arabic language
label: Topic
content: Transcripts
label: Topic
content: voluntarism -- associations, institutions, etc
label: Topic
content: Cookbooks
label: Topic
content: Celebrities -- 20th century
creator: label: Creator
content: Naff, Alixa, 1919-2013
culture: label: Culture
content: Arab Americans
setName: label: See more items in
content: Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents the early Arab immigrant experience and assimilation in the United States dating from circa 1880 through World War II.  It is the direct result of research conducted by Dr. Alixa Naff beginning in 1962 with oral history interviews.  Her study developed into a major project in 1980 with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and a book Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience published in 1985.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The Faris and Yamna Naff Collection is the result of the dedication and research efforts of Dr. Alixa Naff, the daughter of Syrian-Lebanese immigrants.  She spent most of her life documenting the early American experience of the generation of Arabs, mostly Christian, from Syria/Lebanon who came to this country around the turn of the century. 

After an administrative career in private industry, Alixa Naff enrolled at the University of California to obtain her B.A. degree. During her senior year, she was required to write a paper for an American history seminar. The topic for the seminar was immigration.  Alixa Naff chose Arabs in America as her subject. According to Naff, there was a lack of reference materials relating to her topic.  Therefore, she relied mostly on conversations with her parents' friends. Impressed by her work, Alixa Naff's professor offered her a grant to collect Arab folklore. 

Alixa Naff conducted her research during the summer of 1962.  She interviewed eighty-seven people in sixteen communities across the United States and eastern Canada. All of her informants were at least sixty years old at the time of the interviews and represented the last surviving members of her parents' pioneer immigrant generation. After completing her fieldwork, Naff went on to earn her master's and Ph.D. degrees. She taught on the college level at California State University and the University of Colorado. In 1977, she left teaching citing anti-Arab feelings as the reason for her shift in career paths.  Her desire to counter the anti-Arab stereotyping with accurate sources of information created yet another opportunity for her to pursue more research about Arab Americans. 

Later in 1977, Alixa Naff served as a consultant on a documentary film relating to Arabs in America.  She again realized existed on the subject of the Arab immigrant experience in America. Moreover, much of what she found conflicted with what pioneer informants had told her. Naff was also painfully aware that family members of decreased Arab immigrants often discarded the early artifacts, personal papers, photographs and books brought to America. Shortly after, she began working on a study on the history of Arab immigrants. In 1979, Alixa Naff met Gino Baroni, then undersecretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and founder of the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs. His center helped her secure funding for her research from the National Endowment for the Humanities and provided an office for her to work. The result of this work was a book entitled Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience published in 1985. Richard Ahlborn, then curator of the Smithsonian's Community Life Division (now its Department of Cultural Affairs), convinced Naff to donate the collection to the Smithsonian in honor of her parents, Faris and Yamna Naff, and their generation of Arabs who immigrated to America. 

Alixa Naff died on June 1, 2013 at the age of ninety-three.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 120 Cubic feet (295 boxes,  2000 photographs, 450 audio cassette tapes, 38 video cassette tapes, audio discs, and microfilm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1862-2004, undated
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Community Life (now the Division of Cultural and Community Life), December 21, 1983.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0078
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Advertisements
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Books
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Journals (accounts)
label: Type
content: Newspaper clippings
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Family papers
label: Type
content: Moving images
label: Type
content: Digital media
label: Type
content: Cookbooks
label: Type
content: Dissertations
label: Type
content: Journals (periodicals)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is arranged in the eight series created by Dr. Alixa Naff.

Series 1, Personal Papers, 1891-2002, undated

Series 2, Photographs, 1890-1996, undated

Series 3, Oral interviews, Abstracts, Transcripts and Supporting Materials, 1962-1995, undated

Series 4, Publications, 1862-2000, undated

Series 5, Subject Files, 1888-2000

Series 6, Project Files, 1977-1995

Series 7, Alixa Naff Personal Papers, 1943-1996, undated

Series 8, Audio Visual Materials, 1908-1994, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Alixa Naff, volunteer; Cathy Keen, archivist; Saida Erradi, volunteer, 1996; Wendy Shay, archivist; Alison Oswald, archivist; Franklin Robinson Jr., archivist; Adrienne Cain, intern; Tiffany Draut, intern; Emily Hamstra, intern; Nathan Tomlanovich, intern; Megan Esseltine, intern; William R. Cron, Jr., intern; Kiley Autumn Orchard, intern, 2008; Anne Jones, volunteer; Elisabeth Warsinske, intern; Micheline Lovink Soughayar, intern; Dory Tamios Abi-Najm, intern, 2014; supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Digital preservation .bwav files for Subseries 8.1: 1962 Interviews were created by George Blood Audio LP, 2014 October. Digital access MP3 files created by George Blood Audio LP, 2014 October.

Copies are also available at the Arab American National Museum. This online collection consists of 75 digital audio files and 30 PDF files of interview notes. To preserve the original order of the collection, the audio files are direct copies of the original reel-to-reel tapes. Many files contain more than one interview, and some interviews are spread across multiple tapes. Some, but not all, interviews have accompanying notes, which should not be considered direct transcripts. To aid researchers, metadata accompanying each file will include a description of the original tape contents, and will be tagged with each interviewee's name. These tags can be used to find other files with the same interviewee. 

As the interviews focused on first and second generation immigrants, both English and Arabic are spoken. Many interviews are entirely in Arabic. Languages spoken will be noted for each interview in the accompanying metadata. 

Access copies of all digitized audio are available at both the Arab American National Museum and the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Advertisements
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Books
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 19th-20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Journals (accounts)
label: Genre/Form
content: Newspaper clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- Arab Americans
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 1850-1900
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Family papers -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Family papers
label: Genre/Form
content: Moving images
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital media
label: Genre/Form
content: Cookbooks -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Dissertations
label: Genre/Form
content: Journals (periodicals) -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection documents the immigration and assimilation of mostly Christian Syrian-Lebanese who came to America at the turn of the twentieth century.  The immigrants were predominately-small land-owning peasants and artisans from the village of Syria and Lebanon.  According to Alixa Naff, immigrants knew exactly where they were going to live and what they were going to do once they immigrated to America. They mostly chose to live in cities where earlier immigrants had already created communities. The majority of the immigrants became peddlers.  Peddlers carried packs containing scissors, razors, pins, buttons, ribbons, threads, needles, combs, mirrors, soap, voile and muslin, lace and crotchet crafts, perfume, scarves, picture frames, oriental rugs, fine linens, leather goods, pictures of saints, religious notions from the holy land, confections and cakes. Peddling offered the immigrants a source of income and a way to learn the English language, American customs and lifestyles. It often led to ownership of a small dry goods store.  More successful businesspersons then went on to own a department store or a chain of stores. For those Syrian/Lebanese who chose not to pursue peddling as a source of income other occupations included farming, work in New England textile mills, Midwestern factories, Pittsburgh and Birmingham steel mills and Detroit's automobile assembly lines. 

It was in these Syrian communities created by Arab immigrants that Dr. Naff sought interviews, photographs and personal papers. For Alixa Naff this pioneering generation of people offered a wealth of information on the immigrant experience and the critical role that peddling played.  Naff conducted interviews in urban and small town communities with an emphasis on Midwestern states.  Her informants included first and second generation Christians, Druze and Muslims.   Locations of interviews included Detroit, Michigan because it was an industrial city with a large and stable Syrian population of all faiths.  Cedar Rapids, Iowa was smaller, a railroad depot at the turn of the century and home to the earliest Muslim groups.  Peoria, Illinois was also a small, railroad depot at the turn of the century and it consisted predominately of the Maronite Sect originally from one village in Mount Lebanon. Spring Valley, Illinois was a small mining town with a Christian community and the remnant of a once flourishing peddling settlement.  Their Eastern Rite Syrian Orthodox Church was the only one in Illinois until 1961 and served smaller Syrian groups.   

Oral history interviews deal with the sociological factors of the assimilation process. Most tapes have been fully transcribed or abstracted. Information from the interviews are supported with  published articles; demographic statistics; articles from the Arab-American press, books, journals and dissertations published in the United States or in Arab countries. Personal papers collected from individuals and families provide evidence of the experiences discussed in the interviews and add a personal touch to the reference materials. While there are a number of original items included among the personal papers, there is a substantial amount of duplicate materials.  Naff would often collect the originals make copies and then return the originals to the donors.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Languages, NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Languages

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tobacco Trade and Industry, NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Tobacco

George W. Sims Papers, 1896-1981, NMAH.AC.0127

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.AC.0143

Irving Berlin Collection, 1905-1987, NMAH.AC.0257

Melvin Kranzberg Papers, 1934-1988, NMAH.AC.0266

Julian Hinds Collection, NMAH.AC.0287

Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated Records, 1856-1989, undated, NMAH.AC.0395

Princeton University Posters Collection, NMAH.AC.0433

Frederick and Mary Hill Fried Folk Art Archives, circa 1662-1999, NMAH.AC.0528

Mergenthaler Linotype Company Records, 1886-1997, NMAH.AC.0666

American Petroleum Institute Photograph and Film Collection, 1860s-1990 (bulk 1955-1990), NMAH.AC.0711

Sterling Drug, Incorporated, Records, NMAH.AC.0772

Charles Richardson Pratt Papers, 1860-1935, NMAH.AC.0958


Division of Community Life World's Fairs Collection, 1876-1993, NMAH.AC.1132

Marilyn E. Jackler Memorial Collection of Tobacco Advertisements circa 1890-2013, undated, NMAH.AC.1224

Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers, 1895-1972, ACMA.06-017

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Kahlil Gibran Papers, AAA.gibrkahl

Anna Richards Brewster Papers, 1887-1961, AAA.brewanna

Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman Papers, AAA.fleilawr

Jacques Seligmann & Company Records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, AAA.jacqself

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

Stephen Grant Postcards, EEPA 2001-001

Emile Gorlia Photographs, EEPA.1977-001

Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA.1973-001

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Myron Bement Smith Collection, FSA A.04

National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Alixa Naff Photographs of Europe, the Middle East and the Mediterranean and audio tapes on Mediterranean folklore, Photo Lot 2011-02

William C. Sturtevant Papers, NAA.2008-24

John Peabody Harrington Papers, 1907-1959, NAA.1976-95

Division of Ethnology Photograph Collection, NAA.PhotoLot.97

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Brandon B. Fortune Research Material on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, 1977-1993, bulk 1987-1991, NPG.CAP.00004

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution


Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1987 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1987

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1990 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1990

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Farouk El-Baz Papers, SIA.FA17-262

National Museum of American History, Division of Cultural History, Exhibition Records, SIA.FA13-007

National Museum of American History, Division of Cultural History, Curatorial Records, SIA.FA02-057

National Museum of American History, Department of Social and Cultural History, Chairman's Records, SIA.FA06-137

National Museum of American History, Archives Center, Chair Records, SIA.FA12-193

National Museum of American History, Office of the Director, Subject Files, SIA.FA03-091

National Museum of American History. Department of Public Programs, Records, SIA.FARU0584


National Museum of American History. National Numismatic Collection, Records, SIA.FARU0359
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Division of Cultural and Community Life, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution holds the artifacts that were collected with the Naff Collection archival materials.  Below is a partial list of what the division houses as part of its collections.

Altar chalice cover, catalog number 1984.0218.54

Arghili (water pipe) catalog number 1984.0218.65

Arghili (water pipe) catalog number 1984.0218.43

Ashtray, catalog number 1984.0218.45A

Ashtray, catalog number 1984.0218.45B

Astragal, catalog number 1984.0218.14A

Astragal, catalog number 1984.0218.14B

Astragal, catalog number 1984.0218.14C

Astragal, catalog number 1984.0218.14D

Bead, catalog number 1984.0218.64

Beads, catalog number 1984.0218.07

Beads, catalog number 1984.0218.39 

Border, catalog number 1984.0218.34

Bowl, catalog number 1984.0218.47

Bowl, catalog number 1984.0218.46

Bracelet, catalog number 1984.0218.29

Bracelet, catalog number 1984.1137.060

Brush, catalog number 1984.0218.37

Burner, catalog number 1984.0218.25

Butter mold, catalog number 1984.0218.19

Button, catalog number 1984.1137.06AF

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10A

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10B

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10C

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10D

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10E

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10F

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10G

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10H 

Coffee cup, catalog number 1984.0218.10I

Coffee maker, catalog number 1984.0218.42

Coffee maker, catlog number 1984.0218.12

Coffee mill, catalog number 1984.0218.08

Cloak, catalog number 1984.0218.30

Cloth, catalog number 1984.0218.02

Cloth, catalog number 1984.0218.55

Cloth, catalog number 1984.0218.56

Cloth, catalog number 1984.0218.06

Cloth, catalog number 1984.0218.03

Cloth, catalog number 1984.0218.05

Compact, catalog number 1984.1137.06B

Cross, catalog number 1984.1137.06AG

Cufflinks, catalog number 1984.1137.06AE

Cups and sauces, catalog number 1984.0218.44

Curing bowl, catalog number 1984.0218.48

Doily, catalog number 1984.0218.35

Doily, catalog number 1984.0218.57

Earrings, catalog number 1984.1137.06X

Earrings, catalog number 1984.1137.06W

Earrings, catalog number 1984.1137.06V

Fragment, catalog number 1984.0218.61

Fragment, catalog number 1984.0218.62

Fragment, catalog number 1984.0218.63

Head cover, catalog number 1984.0218.38

Kohl container, catalog number 1984.0218.50

Locket, catalog number 1984.1137.06U

Mantilla, catalog number 1984.0218.28

Middle East groceries neon sign, catalog number 1987.0887.07

Motar and pestle, catalog number 1984.1137.02

Pendant, catalog number 1984.1137.06S

Pendant, catalog number 1984.1137.06R 

Pestle, catalog number 1984.1137.01

Photograph on metal disk, catalog number 1984.1137.04

Pillowcase, catalog number 1984.0218.32

Pillowcase, catalog number 1984.1137.05

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06E

Pin, catalog number 1984.0218.60

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06L

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06J

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06M

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06H

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06F

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06G

Pin, catalog number 1984.1137.06N

Plaque, catalog number 1984.0218.17

Pouch, catalog number 1984.1137.07

Purse, catlog number 1984.0218.27

Ring, catalog number 1984.0218.53

Scarab, catalog number 1984.1137.06I

Scraf, catalog number 1984.0218.21

Scraf, catalog number 1984.0218.20

Serving tray, catalog number 1984.0218.11

Shawl fragment, catalog number 1984.0218.04

Shell, catalog number 1984.1137.06Y

Shell, catalog number 1984.1137.06AC

Shell, catalog number 1984.1137.06AA

Shell, catalog number 1984.1137.06AB

Shell, catalog number 1984.1137.06AC

Shell, catalog number 1984.1137.06AD

Stone, catalog number 1984.0218.23

Tablecloth, catalog number 1984.0218.31

Table cover, catalog number 1984.0218.36

Talisman, catalog number 1984.0218.15 

Tongs, catalog number 1984.0218.66

Turkish coin, catalog number 1984.0218.01A

Turkish coin, catalog number 1984.0218.01B

Turkish coin, catalog number 1984.0218.01C