When my grandfather first arrived in Allentown, he lived in the Ward, on 2nd. Street. It was around 1895 and the neighborhood was full of immigrants. Some groups came from the same area in the old country, most noticeably the Syrians, from the village of Amar*. They were Greek Orthodox, a minority in a Muslim country. The congregation of St. George's Church on Catasauqua Ave., largely is descended from those immigrants. Well known names in Allentown, such as Atiyeh, Haddad, Hanna, Makoul, Koury and Joseph are among their members. They were among one of the first groups to organize, and those organizations still exist. The photo above was organized by the Syrian American Organization in 1944. Note that Jewish, on the left, is treated as a nationality.
* hopefully my Syrian friends will correct any historical errors I have made.
click on photo to enlarge
reprinted from March 2010
Very nice my man.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: This blog started out as an adjunct to my activism. After numerous battles and years against City Hall, I am, more and more, allowing my written word to represent me. I consider my late friend Emma Tropiano to be a mentor. Although I never met or knew of him, I had another mentor, Bert Luckenbach. Mr. Luckenbach was still giving them hell when he was 92 years old. He lived in the neighborhood of my youth, Lehigh Parkway (Little Lehigh Manor) and was a staunch park defender. Here's a passage from one of his letters to the editor.
ReplyDeleteBurt would shout at the fallen trees lying in the stream in the parkway as well as the dumpster in back of the century-old city barn now doing what? Emptying the building in preparation for a sale? Oh the silliness of some to believe their jobs are and will be safe.
off topic @10:39, i tend to currently defend the park department, with their reduced manpower. as i stated previously, the sandy storm created an enormous amount of unanticipated work. the department has succeeded in removing the dozens of trees fallen in cedar creek park.
ReplyDelete