Kannan Family

These materials were donated by Matthew Kannan.

Biography

Matthew Kannan descends from Charles Kannan and Nora Rabil Kannan, immigrants from Lebanon who settled in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The two had seven children before Charles’ death on January 6, 1929:  Addie, James, Magdaline, Kattie, Louis, and Francis. On his mother's side of the family, Matt Kannan is descended from Shickrey Baddour, a businessman who immigrated from Hammana, Lebanon in 1893, and Victoria Alkazin. The two moved to Goldsboro, North Carolina, from Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1915. The Kannans, Baddours, and Rabils all had their origins in or near Hammana, Lebanon. The three families remained close for decades and generations after their immigration, creating the Hammana Club together in order to preserve their shared cultural origins and support their patriotic, enterprising, and communal participation in American and North Carolinian life.

Shickrey and Victoria’s youngest son, Mitchell David Baddour, was the grandfather of Matthew Kannan. Mitchell served in the United States Navy from 1943 until March 19, 1946, when he was honorably discharged due to injuries sustained in service in the Mediterranean, Southern France, North Africa, and Sicily. Mitchell attained the rank of Quartermaster 3^rd class, and received the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Medal, and the Victory Medal of World War II. After his service, Mitchell returned to North Carolina to attend college. He married Doris Baddour in 1953, and the two had four children together:  three sons Michael, Paul, and Tony, and one daughter, Mary Anne “Pixie” Baddour Kannan.

Pixie Baddour married Charles Louis Kannan, the son of Marguerite Rabil Kannan and Louis Joseph Kannan. Louis Kannan was one of the youngest sons of Charles and Nora Kannan; though born in North Carolina, he raised his family Franklin, Virginia. Charles and Pixie had two children together:  Matthew and Mariam Kannan.

Scope and Content

This collection contains studio portraits and family photographs of individuals and groups from the Baddour, Kannan, and Rabil families; material relating to Mitchell Baddour’s service in the United States Navy during World War II; and material documenting the Hammana Club in North Carolina. 

Unknown

Matt Kannan

Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

1920s-1940s and Unknown

Matt Kannan

Collection description written by Claire A. Kempa

Donor retains full ownership of any and all copyright currently controlled in agreement with Khayrallah Center. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).

Collection