Editor-in-Chief Georges Mghames English Editor Kenneth Mortimer ...

Visit and Generous Donation by Mr. & Mrs. Elvis Alam
Mrs. H. Hraiz de Alam and Mr.
Elvis Louis Alam at the museum
Libanesa: Revista Dominica Libanesa, 20 July 1943, No.1
On Monday, 9th May, Mr. Elvis Louis Alam, Civil Engineer and owner
of Alamco in the Dominican Republic, visited the LERC with his wife,
Mrs. Hala Hraiz de Alam. Mr. Alam is a third-generation Dominican of
Lebanese descent. His grandfather Tanios emigrated from Bsarma, in
Koura, Northern Lebanon, on 12th July, 1898 with his wife Arze Rizk Alam.
Vice-President of the Club Libanese Santo Domingo, Mr. Alam has long
nurtured a love of all things Lebanese and striven to collect documents
about the Lebanese in the Dominican Republic. In the Dominican Republic’s
Archivo General de la Nacion, he digitally photographed endless original
documents including entry permits, residence permits, renewal forms,
and re-entry visas for Lebanese who had chosen to retain their Lebanese
nationality.
Mr. Alam came to LERC to donate copies of his collection, including
photographed documents concerning the Jabbour (Yapor) family and Mr.
Antonio Zaglul from the renowned Zaglul family, and digital photographs
of the magazine, Libanesa: Revista Dominica Libanesa, from the first issue
in 1943 to the last in 1967. This covered all aspects of Lebanese life in Santo
Domingo. Since 1997, Mr. Alam regularly visits Lebanon. He persuades
Lebanese from Santo Domingo to accompany him and discover the beauty
of the land, while putting them in contact with their home villages and
relatives. Thus he has reunited the Jarjura, Moussa, Farfoud, Abu Haroun,
Choueiri and Merheb families. Other recognized families such as the
Doumits, Alams, Naser, Abou Rahal, Keirouz have accompanied him.
Mr. Alam is a close friend of Mr. Michel Eddeh, and is also a member of
the Maronite Foundation in the World, which assists Lebanese Christian
emigrants and their descendents to regain their Lebanese citizenship.
Mrs. Hala, although relatively new to the island, having emigrated in 2007
from Zahle, has started her own business. She is the Operations Manager of
Hala Import-Export that imports Lebanese products, such as juice and wines,
to the country. Also a member of the Centro Cultural Libanese, she assists
the community by teaching colloquial Lebanese.
After a presentation of the LERC electronic archives, the couple were
then taken on a tour of the Lebanese Migration Museum at NDU. They
saw first-hand how LERC preserves its material, and how digital copies
are made of items too rare or valuable to be displayed. The Alams then
met LERC Director Ms. Guita Hourani, to discuss systematic cooperation.
Director Hourani designated Mr. Alam as LERC’s Liaison Officer for the
Dominican Republic. Mr. Alam said that being associated with LERC was
what he had wished for ever since he knew about the Center and he
urged it to continue its fine work.
Issue 52
June 2011
Dr. Akram Khater of
North Carolina State
University
At the Museum: (from left to right) Ms. D. Cullinan,
Mrs. A. Khater-Touma, Dr. A. Khater, Mr.
N. Hutcheson (May 2011).
Dr. Akram Khater, Associate Professor
of History, Director of Khayrallah
Program for Lebanese-American
Studies, and Director of Middle East
Studies Program at North Carolina
State University in the United States,
visited LERC on Tuesday 10th May,
with two renowned videographers,
Ms. Danica Cullinan and Emmy
Award-winning filmmaker Mr. Neal
Hutcheson. Dr. Akram and his team
were in Lebanon for the purpose of
taping interviews and filming in the
towns of Ghbeleh, Hammana, and
Mazraet el Teffah, for an hour-long
PBS documentary on the Lebanese
community in North Carolina to be
screened in January 2012. The film
will include interviews with Lebanese
emigrants and their descendants in
North Carolina. The visitors were
shown the materials in the Lebanon
Migration Nucleus Museum and
LERC’s archives and database, where
they found many items of interest to
them.
Dr. Akram and his colleagues discussed
with LERC Director Ms. Guita Hourani
the work that is being done under
the Khayrallah Program, upcoming
projects and future accessibility to
the LERC collection on the Internet.
In their parting statements, Mr.
Hutcheson and Ms. Cullinan
thanked LERC for the impressive
demonstration of the LERC electronic
archives while Dr. Akram described
it as an “amazing collection, the
product of excellent work and
selfless dedication.”
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