Collection of Reverend Tobia Attallah Letters

Emigration and Immigration

Letter writing, Arabic

Letters (correspondence)

Biographical/historical note

Reverend Tobia Attallah was a reverend of the Maronite Church who lived in Bayt Shabab village in Lebanon in the early twentieth century. He correspondended with three of his children, Krouger, Nadim and As’ad Attallah who lived and worked in various locations including Argentina, Brazil, Guinea, Mali, and Ghana. Krouger and Nadim were more regular correspondents, and letters in the collection from each of them document the strife of migration and their travels to and from Lebanon.

Scope/content note

The Collection of Reverend Tobia Attallah letters includes letters mostly written to Reverend Attallah from 1896-1959. The writers often speak of their business, families, and financial standing. Beginning in 1914, the bulk of the letters are from three of his sons, Krouger, Nadim and As’ad Attallah. This collection shows one family's emotional turmoil and their struggles as they cope with living abroad with limited communication to their family and friends back home in Lebanon.

The materials consist of approximately 200 letters and 40 other items including envelopes and notes. Some of the latter items may have little or no relation to the Attallah letters, but the materials have been kept together as they were originally donated.

To read more about this collection and how it relates to the broader experience of immigration you can access Dr. Akram Khater's blog post "Letters from Afar: New Khayrallah Center collection of letters from West Africa to Lebanon".

Tobia Attallah

Jihad Bannout

Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

1896-1959

Processed by Amanda Forbes and Lala Al Saeedi, 2020-2021. Translations contributed by Akram Khater, 2020-2021. Collection Guide written by Amanda Forbes.

Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 June.

The Khayrallah Center claims only physical ownership of the materials. Due to the nature of archival collections, information about copyright and rights ownership in the materials may be difficult to find despite reasonable efforts. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.

Arabic

French

Spanish

English

KC 0052