Upcoming Events:
Do you have Lebanese or Syrian family members who emigrated to Boston in the late 1800s to early 1900s? Are you interested in sharing this history? Join us for a community digitization day! Bring up to 3 photographs or other documents to be copied and included in a statewide digital collection at digitalcommonwealth.org. Archivists, public historians, and community volunteers will scan your items and help you record your stories. All items will be returned to you immediately. This is a free, public event and refreshments will be served.
*If you are interested in digitization or history and would like to volunteer at this event, please get in touch! This requires attending a training on zoom, an in-person training, and the entire event. There is a modest stipend available.*
This event is produced by the University Archives and Special Collections Department in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston and is co-sponsored by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund.
Past Events:
Curators’ Talk
Emmanuel College
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 5pm
This coincided with the Boston Little Syria exhibition at Emmanuel College’s Cardinal Cushing Library and featured several members of the community discussing objects from its history.
Exhibition Tour & Reception
Grossmann Gallery, Healey Library, UMass Boston
Saturday, April 20, 2024, 12:30-2:30pm
This in-person event coincided with a semester-long exhibition at the University of Massachusetts Boston and featured community members discussing items they had contributed to the exhibition, as well as a curator tour.
“Peddlers, Bootleggers, and Acrobats: An Urban Geography of Boston’s Little Syria“
Emile Bustani Seminar, MIT, Cambridge, MA (Hybrid)
November 7, 2023
This talk will wove together the history of the modern Middle East together and the urban history of Boston to tell the story of the city’s first Arabic-speaking community. As the present Syrian diaspora reaches around the world, the story of Boston’s Little Syria offers a window onto how an earlier wave of migrants shaped the places they landed.
Wandering Boston’s Little Syria
Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA (Hybrid)
April 19, 2023
This event featured a multimedia presentation on the neighborhood’s history by project leads Chloe Bordewich and Lydia Harrington, as well as a moderated discussion with panelists who recounted their families’ experiences living in Little Syria earlier and the dispersal of the community into the Boston suburbs. Watch a recording of the event here.