Muslims of the heartland How Syrian immigrants made a home in the American Midwest

For the past two decades, Curtis (Indiana Univ.--Purdue Univ. Indianapolis) has been a prolific scholar of the Muslim presence in the US over the centuries. The book under review focuses on Syrian Muslim immigrants (including those from parts of modern-day Lebanon) or second-generation men and women who settled or lived in the Midwest, from the Dakotas to Michigan, down to southern Missouri and locales in between. Many broader studies, such as Curtis's earlier work Muslims in America: A Short History (CH, Jan'10, 47-2760), touch on Muslims in the Midwest. Other books have focused on one city, such as Sally Howell's Old Islam in Detroit: Rediscovering the Muslim American Past (CH, Jan'15, 52-2736). However, this book's geographic span and tight focus on a particular immigrant group during the first half of the 20th century make it a unique contribution to the scholarship on Muslim American history. Scrupulously researched and annotated, this book is written with a broad audience in mind despite being published by an academic press. Focusing on the life stories of 15 real men and women, it is a very intimate and easy read. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. --Brent D. Singleton, California State University--San Bernardino

A multicultural view of a huge swath of America. Curtis, a professor of liberal arts and religious studies, draws on rich archival sources to create a vivid portrait of Syrian communities in the Midwest from 1900 to the 1950s. Himself the great-grandson of a Syrian immigrant and son of an Arab mother and White father who grew up in the Bible Belt of southern Illinois, Curtis reveals the extent to which Arabic-speaking Christians and Muslims "built a world of shared networks, friendships, and political interests before World War II." Fighting against "the bleaching of Midwestern history," which represents the Midwest as dominated by White Christians, Curtis depicts a diverse region that "became America's Arab Muslim heartland." Inspired by tales of opportunity, immigrants from Ottoman Syria--which included Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan--flocked to the Dakotas, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana, where many got their starts as grocers, factory workers, or homesteaders. As the author illuminates the lives of many Syrian families, he emphasizes their aspiration to assimilate while still maintaining ethnic and religious ties to their heritage. The mosques they built, he asserts, were not only sites for prayer, but also cultural and social centers, places where families could share food and convene for celebrations. Always aware of America's pervasive "color line," Syrians encountered negative views of Muslims that portrayed them as violent and hedonistic. At various times, they also faced legal challenges to their status. For example, in 1909, the "Department of Commerce and Labor said that Syrian-born people were not white, but Asiatic (that is, Asian or Oriental)"; in 1915, that ruling was reversed, making Syrians eligible for naturalized citizenship; in 1924, the National Origins Act implemented a racist immigrant quota system that made it nearly impossible for Syrians to enter the country while favoring immigrants from "Nordic" European countries. Hardly an "unassimilable" group, as Curtis amply shows, they contributed significantly to the communities in which they lived. A fresh portrayal of American history and identity. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.