The History of Saidnaya Reunion; By Ghassan Keriaky

The beginning

On June 4^th 1978, the members of St. George Orthodox Church in Indianapolis, IN started a tradition that would last for many years to come. Encouraged by Frank Maria, the most prominent Saidnayan in the USA, Alice Mesalam organized the first reunion for Saidnaya descendants in the Americas. Since then, the reunion has become an important date for the growing number of Saidnayans living in the USA and Canada.

The first reunion was held in the church's hall for one day only. It included a display of items and articles from Saidnaya. There were lectures and historical reviews of Syria and Saidnaya. It also included Syrian music, dance, dabke (a folklore line dancing) and games such as backgammon. The food was prepared by the families attending the meeting, and each family brought some homemade meal.

The reunion has grown significantly over the years; and people from all over the continent of America have come to participate. Nowadays, it is being held over three day weekend, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon; and among other activities, it includes two parties (hafla) with meals on Friday and Saturday’s evenings.

The history of immigration:

           There were two large waves of immigration from Saidnaya to the Americas. The first wave was from 1880 to 1924 and the second one was from 1965 to the present. These two waves were in line with the immigration pattern from the Arab countries that was dictated by two congressional acts: 1924 and 1965.

 In 1876, the USA held The Centennial International Exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the independence. Many Syrians participated as a part of the Ottoman Empire’s delegation. This event opened the eyes of the people of Syria, and Saidnaya in particular, to the great economic opportunities in this part of the world.

On the other hand, the economic situation in Syria became dire, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Famines became wide-spread. In addition, the religious discrimination by the strict Islamic Ottoman regime made life intolerable. These two factors drove the people of Saidnaya to seek a better life in the new world.

Here in America, the industrial boom was taking shape and the demand for workforce was increasing. It’s believed that, during the great immigration wave (1880 – 1924), more than 20 millions new immigrants entered the USA. It was one of the largest immigration waves in history. Among them, there were around 100,000 Syrians.

According to the information I gathered from Saidnaya descendants over the years, I was able to collect a total 117 persons who immigrated from Saidnaya during that period: 83 men and 34 women. And it’s believed that John Corey (Farhan Ya’qoob) was the first person to have come from Saidnaya to the USA around the year 1879.  

Jobs and Settlement

On arrival to the USA, Saidnayans chose one of four destinations to work and settle and build a family. The choice was based on the type of job opportunities these places had offered. And these are:

- Indianapolis, IN. (Natural gas industry)

            - Lowell, MA. (Textile industry)
            - Grand Rapids, MI. (Automobile and furniture industry)
            - Parkersburg, WV. (Glass industry)

Some of the immigrants worked as salesmen; initially as peddlers, and later, after they had saved some money they opened their own stores. No matter what they did, they made sure their children would go to school and have a better life. Many of the next generation graduated from college with high degrees and became unrecognizable from mainstream America.

Here are the names of the family that settled in each community and nearby areas:

Indianapolis: Corey, Eid, George, Matouk, Mesalam, Nuckel, Osman, Ozman, Risk, Saba and Zain.

            Lowell: Azar, Coury, Ellis, Farris, Karakey, Katreena, Keriaky, Maria, Marion, Nackel, Saba, Serhall, Shaheen, Simon and Zaher.
            Grand Rapids: Corey, Eid, Gasses, Holaly, Marod, Risk, Saba, Shaheen, Simon.
            Parkersburg: Abdella, Ahmer, Betres, Corra, Coury, Ellem, Ferrell(?), Jahahn, Lehmer, Lofty, Nedeff, Nedeef, Newman, Sadie, Serhan, Solomon, Thomas.

The second wave of immigration

After the congress Act 1924, immigration from the Arab country was limited to only 100 persons each year. This led to a severe drop in the number of Saidnaya immigrants, many of whom decided to immigrate to South America instead. The new Saidnayan Americans, disconnected from the old country, became more assimilated with the American society.

All changed with the new Congress Act in 1965 when the restrictions were lifted and a new wave of immigration started. Few of the new immigrants joined their relatives who kept in touch over the years; but the majority had to start their journey from scratch. This immigration wave is still going on, as we speak, driven by the instability and the uncertainty of the political situation in the Middle East.

The new immigrants settled all over the US and Canada. New Saidnayan communities were established in major cities like New York, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal.

Here are the names of these families: Abi Syke, Abou Sike, Abou Samra, Al-Cheikh, Al-Fahel, Al-khouri, Allam, Al-Tullie, Assaf, Azar, Chahoud, Fahad, Farah, Ferris, Kahla, Karraz, Keriaki, Keriaky, Khabaza, Khabazeh, Khoury, Kazma, Kozma, Kuzma, Maari, Mamary, Metry, Moamar, Monsour, Mouamer, Mourad, Mrad, Naddaf, Nahas, Najmeh, Nejme, Nejmeh, Nijma, Rizk, Sahadi, Samra, Sarhan, Talli and Tomeh.

About the names

When the pioneering Saidnayans escaped the harsh reality under the Ottoman rule, they came with nothing but their memories and dreams, and their Arabic names, written in Turkish on their documents. On arrival, the officers at the immigration desk tried hard to figure out the names to fill the applications. At times, officers wrote what they heard as best as they could.  And many of the names took a distinctively non-Arabic sound to them. Some sounded like the names of the most recent immigrants from Ireland.

One of the most common names in Saidnaya was “Khoury.” It is pronounced as KHOO-REE, with the letter Kh sounds like snoring. It was commonly used in Saidnaya as a nickname. It means “priest” in Arabic. And if a member of a family had become a priest, that family would be nicknamed "Khoury."

The word “Khoury” was written in three different ways: Corey, Corra, Coury. All these three names are distinctly Irish.

The other problem facing those who are looking for their ancestry is the fact that many of these last names were actually their father’s names or their nicknames. "Eid," for example, was a father or a grandfather’s name; while in Saidnaya, the family’s name was “Katreena”. Likewise, "Farris" was the father’s name and the family’s name was “Za’roor”. The Ellis’ name was their father’s name also. Their family’s name was "Talli." In those days, it was a habit to call people by their father’s name, not their family’s name.

Some of the names were chosen because they were easier to write and pronounce than the original ones. Simon’s name, in Arabic, is pronounced as “Sim-Ann” which is a name of a Saint in Syria and "Simon" is its version in English. Marod is pronounced as “Moorad” In Arabic.

Certain first names were changed to somewhat similar names in English. For example “Abdalla” was always written as “Albert,” while the names “Shehadeh” and “Khaleel” were always written as “Charles.”

An extreme example involved one Saidnayan man whose name in Saidnaya was “Abdalla Keriaky.” But he was nicknamed “Abdalla Azar” because his father’s name was “Azar.” In America, “Abdalla Keriaky” became “Albert Azar.”   

The new immigrants had less trouble with their names because they picked their English version of the name in Syria before leaving. In spite of that, you can notice some differences in the use of vowels. For example, the name “Nejmeh” was spelled in four different ways: Najmeh, Nejme, Nejmeh, Nijma.
 

History of the reunion & gathering

           In the early years, the reunion was held yearly for a short period of time, then, it became a biennial event. After 2002, and due to the demands of the new generation of Saidnayan immigrants, a new “gathering” was established and held in the year in between the reunions. In 2003, and for the first time, the Saidnaya gathering was held outside Indianapolis, in Chicago.

The reunion continued to be held in Indianapolis, at the same church’s hall, until 2008 when the organizers declared that they were no longer able to organize it every two years. After that meeting the reunions, along with the intervening gatherings, were held in a different city each time.

 Here is the list of the cities that hosted the reunions (even-numbered years) and the gatherings (odd-numbered years)

1978 – 2002: Indianapolis

            2003: Chicago
            2004: Indianapolis
            2005: Lowell, MA
            2006: Indianapolis
            2007: Toronto, Canada
            2008: Indianapolis
            2009: Parkersburg
            2010: Chicago
            2011: New York City
            2012: Grand Rapids, MI

The next two meetings will be in Lowell (2013) and Chicago (2014)

Francis “Frank” Maria

The Idea of holding a regular Saidnaya reunion was the brainchild of Frank Maria, the most prominent saidnayan in the USA. He was born in Lowell, MA to John and Mary Saba Maria in 1913 and died in 2001. Both of his parents were born in Saidnaya.

After graduating from Boston University, he worked as an English teacher. Later, he expanded his activities to include social, political and religious works. He worked on many advisory committees to many politicians, including presidents.

President Eisenhower invited him to attend the White House Conference on World Refugee Problems in 1959, where Frank authored four of the eight resolutions on recommendations to solutions on the pressing problems of refugees. The President also named him to the U.S. delegation for the UNESCO general session in 1960.

The numerous accomplishments by Frank made him the most successful Saidnayan in the USA and to read more about him, click on this site:

http://frankmaria.com/resume/detailed_summary.htm

Notes:

I tried to be accurate and thorough but unintentional mistakes are a possibility. If I missed any name, please let me know.  

          Some of the information was obtained from the Saidnaya Directory which was put together by Veronica Nedeff and Alice Mesalam, and the members of St. George Orthodox Church in Indianapolis in 1984.

I am especially thankful to Mr. George Allam, who has been keeping and updating the Saidnaya directory for all these years.
 

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           Below, see copies of two documents from the first ever reunion. The flyer and the proclamation by Father Joseph Rahal, the pastor of St. George Church, proclaiming Sunday, June 4^th 1978 as “The People of Saidnaya Day”