From the Beqaa to the Grand provides the first history of the old Syrian community of Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1890-1945. The study focuses on the slow process of ethnic acculturation during which members of the community developed a hybrid culture, drawing on elements of the old and the new.
Orthodox Christians from neighboring villages in the Beqaa Valley made up the large majority of this community. Unlike some Middle Eastern immigrant groups, these Syrians were able to maintain their identity by establishing their own churches, which still exist today. A small number of Syrian Muslims also resided in the city from almost the beginning of immigration, and a chapter detailing this group is included.
The book begins with a discussion of conditions in the homeland that encouraged emigration during the two decades prior to World War I. As the Syrians settled into Grand Rapids, they became peddlers or worked in the local furniture factories. Their children and grandchildren became prominent businessmen and professionals, dentists and lawyers, contributing in vital ways to life in Michigan’s second city.
At every opportunity this group is situated within the larger context, relating how national and international developments, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the French Mandate in Syria, the Progressive Movement, the Americanization program of the 1920s, the Great Depression and the two world wars, impacted its members. This history is enriched with material drawn from a 2006 visit to Lebanon and a stay in the villages from which most of the immigrants came.