Commemorating the first Arabic-speaking community in the United States
Founded in 2013
Our Mission
To preserve and promote the history and heritage of the first Arabic-speaking settlement on Washington Street, through innovative programs, partnerships, and dialogue.
Founded in 2013
Our Vision
To empower future generations of Arab Americans to preserve, celebrate, and take pride in their immigrant history and to connect this history to the broader American narrative.
Projects
Al Qalam Touring App
The WSHS Touring App is a unique bilingual application that offers a virtual tour of the historic Syrian neighborhood on Washington Street. Archival photos, videos and short essays reconstruct what has been lost to development.
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Washington Street Historical society
“Al Qalam: Poets in the Park” Monument
A Memorial to the Poets of the Syrian Colony
History
Learn more about the history of Arab migration to the lower Washington Street neighborhood of Manhattan
Archive Gallery
Check out our library of video and still photographs, interviews, documentaries, etc.
Washington Street in Context
The Demise of the Washington Street Neighborhood
The article below originally appeared as an AP News item on October…
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Park Memorial Project
The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation is building a new 20,000…
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Palestine at the Centennial Fair of 1876
On 10 May 1876, U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant opened the Centennial…
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