Muslims of the heartland :

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Title :

Muslims of the heartland : how Syrian immigrants made a home in the American Midwest / Edward E. Curtis IV.

Title:

Muslims of the heartland :

Varying Form of Title:

How Syrian immigrants made a home in the American Midwest

Author:

Curtis, Edward E., IV, 1970-

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

x, 239 pages : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm

ISBN:

9781479812561

Production / Publication Information:

New York : New York University Press, [2022]

Contents:

Muslim South Dakota from Kadoka to Sioux Falls -- Homesteading western North Dakota -- Peddling in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a town of ethnic tradition -- Michigan City, Indiana, and Syrian muslim industrial workers -- Muslim Life and the agricultural depression in North Dakota -- Cedar Rapids' grocery business and the growth of a Muslim midwestern town -- From Sioux Falls and Michigan City to Detroit, capital of the Muslim Midwest -- Conclusion: a big party in the 1950s.

Summary:

"This book rejects the stereotype of the Midwest as bleached-out Christian country. It unearths a surprising and intimate history of the first two generations of Syrian Muslims in the Midwest who, in spite of discrimination, created a life that was Arab, American, and Muslim all at the same time"--

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language:

English

Geographic Term:

Middle West -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century.

Subject Term:

Syrian Americans -- Middle West -- History -- 20th century.

Muslims -- Middle West -- History -- 20th century.

Muslim families -- Middle West -- Social conditions.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	977.0049 CUR	30470001981249	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	977.0049 CUR	32128004037363	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Winner of the 2023 Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Book Award from the Arab American National Museum
Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2023

Uncovers the surprising history of Muslim life in the early American Midwest

The American Midwest is often thought of as uniformly white, and shaped exclusively by Christian values. However, this view of the region as an unvarying landscape fails to consider a significant community at its very heart. Muslims of the Heartland uncovers the long history of Muslims in a part of the country where many readers would not expect to find them.

Edward E. Curtis IV, a descendant of Syrian Midwesterners, vividly portrays the intrepid men and women who busted sod on the short-grass prairies of the Dakotas, peddled needles and lace on the streets of Cedar Rapids, and worked in the railroad car factories of Michigan City. This intimate portrait follows the stories of individuals such as farmer Mary Juma, pacifist Kassem Rameden, poet Aliya Hassen, and bookmaker Kamel Osman from the early 1900s through World War I, the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, and World War II. Its story-driven approach places Syrian Americans at the center of key American institutions like the assembly line, the family farm, the dance hall, and the public school, showing how the first two generations of Midwestern Syrians created a life that was Arab, Muslim, and American, all at the same time.

Muslims of the Heartland recreates what the Syrian Muslim Midwest looked, sounded, felt, and smelled like--from the allspice-seasoned lamb and rice shared in mosque basements to the sound of the trains on the Rock Island Line rolling past the dry goods store. It recovers a multicultural history of the American Midwest that cannot be ignored.

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

A multicultural view of a huge swath of America. Curtis, a professor of liberal arts and religious studies, draws on rich archival sources to create a vivid portrait of Syrian communities in the Midwest from 1900 to the 1950s. Himself the great-grandson of a Syrian immigrant and son of an Arab mother and White father who grew up in the Bible Belt of southern Illinois, Curtis reveals the extent to which Arabic-speaking Christians and Muslims "built a world of shared networks, friendships, and political interests before World War II." Fighting against "the bleaching of Midwestern history," which represents the Midwest as dominated by White Christians, Curtis depicts a diverse region that "became America's Arab Muslim heartland." Inspired by tales of opportunity, immigrants from Ottoman Syria--which included Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan--flocked to the Dakotas, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana, where many got their starts as grocers, factory workers, or homesteaders. As the author illuminates the lives of many Syrian families, he emphasizes their aspiration to assimilate while still maintaining ethnic and religious ties to their heritage. The mosques they built, he asserts, were not only sites for prayer, but also cultural and social centers, places where families could share food and convene for celebrations. Always aware of America's pervasive "color line," Syrians encountered negative views of Muslims that portrayed them as violent and hedonistic. At various times, they also faced legal challenges to their status. For example, in 1909, the "Department of Commerce and Labor said that Syrian-born people were not white, but Asiatic (that is, Asian or Oriental)"; in 1915, that ruling was reversed, making Syrians eligible for naturalized citizenship; in 1924, the National Origins Act implemented a racist immigrant quota system that made it nearly impossible for Syrians to enter the country while favoring immigrants from "Nordic" European countries. Hardly an "unassimilable" group, as Curtis amply shows, they contributed significantly to the communities in which they lived. A fresh portrayal of American history and identity. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Choice Review

For the past two decades, Curtis (Indiana Univ.--Purdue Univ. Indianapolis) has been a prolific scholar of the Muslim presence in the US over the centuries. The book under review focuses on Syrian Muslim immigrants (including those from parts of modern-day Lebanon) or second-generation men and women who settled or lived in the Midwest, from the Dakotas to Michigan, down to southern Missouri and locales in between. Many broader studies, such as Curtis's earlier work Muslims in America: A Short History (CH, Jan'10, 47-2760), touch on Muslims in the Midwest. Other books have focused on one city, such as Sally Howell's Old Islam in Detroit: Rediscovering the Muslim American Past (CH, Jan'15, 52-2736). However, this book's geographic span and tight focus on a particular immigrant group during the first half of the 20th century make it a unique contribution to the scholarship on Muslim American history. Scrupulously researched and annotated, this book is written with a broad audience in mind despite being published by an academic press. Focusing on the life stories of 15 real men and women, it is a very intimate and easy read. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. --Brent D. Singleton, California State University--San Bernardino