Anan Ameri

Anan Ameri, director of the Arab American National Museum, lived in Jerusalem, Jordan, and Lebanon before coming to the Detroit area. Highlights from this segment include:

• Anan obtained her doctorate from Wayne State University and briefly taught at the university level.
• Anan decided she was most comfortable doing community work. This work involves harnessing networks of people to get to a common goal.
• She views the establishment of the Arab American National Museum as the crowning acheivement of her career.
• In the near term, she is looking to expand the current location's square footage. She would also like for more traveling exhibits to originate from the current museum.
• Ultimately, she sees no reason there could not be multiple, affiliated Arab American National Museums established around the country.

As explained by Anan Ameri (download 6.5 minute iPod compatible video, 35MB), the Arab American National Museum's founding director, the idea behind the museum is to show the extent to which Arab Americans are part of the fabric of US society. Arabs first came to America in 1528, and there were 50 Arabic newspapers in publication by 1938.

As mentioned previously, momentum for the museum began to build just before September 11, 2001. That event initially slowed movement toward the museum. However, when the American Association of Museums featured the museum in its 100th anniversary publication, it became clear that the museum would be a positive vehicle for communicating the Arab American story, a story which bears no relationship to 9/11.

The museum tells its story through exhibits:

• The courtyard exhibit sets the scene with a large map of the Arab world.
• Coming to America tells the immigration story.
• Living in America describes Arab American customs.
• Making an impact highlights Arab Americans who have gained significant recognition for their contributions.

Beginning in 1998, a group of community organizers at ACCESS began thinking of starting a museum of Arab-American culture from scratch (download 9 and a half minute iPod compatible video, 47MB). They had no professional museum experience. Their goals were to document the history of Arab-Americans and to build alliances with other ethnic groups. As Dr. Anan Ameri, the museum's founding director, describes, it then took seven years to finally complete the museum. During that time, the staff devoted to museum activities went from 3 to 30, and the space went from 2 rooms to 34,000 square feet.

In order to aid in the mission of building bridges, the museum aims to provide a living experience, not just exhibits under glass. Art and musical activities are two of the major connecting points in this effort.

In future segments, we'll complete the story of how the museum was built, discuss Dr. Ameri's personal journey to America, and hear about future plans.