The Conference of Emigrants

There is no doubt that the event of this season is, above all, the long-awaited Conference of Emigrants. This issue will scarcely be in the readers' hands before the delegations have begun arriving from across the seas, to hold the first comprehensive conference that will acquaint the emigrant half with the resident, and the resident with the emigrant.

"The Woman's Voice" has resolved to take part in this work of acquaintance, which it hopes will bear blessings for both sides, and has decided to bring out a special deluxe issue, to appear in mid-August, in double size and in four languages — Arabic, English, French, and Spanish — a cultural, literary, and artistic document on Lebanon in general and on women's activity in it in particular.

"The Woman's Voice" had entrusted Mrs. Eva Malik, wife of our Minister Plenipotentiary in Washington, with writing for us on the role of woman in the said conference. She has sent us this article, a presentation of some of the great women figures who will take part in it, and she has also sent us a second article recounting the history of the idea of holding the conference and explaining the possibilities of acquaintance and cooperation between the Lebanese and Syrian woman and her sister in the Mahjar. We shall publish that article in our coming special issue. To Mrs. Malik our abundant thanks.

... I shall begin by introducing the wife of the president of the conference, who has worked and is working for the success of this conference in cooperation with her husband, and who will be president of the conference's "Hospitality Committee."

Mrs. Sandra was born in the state of Massachusetts (Mass.). Her father, Mr. Elias Mhanna, is originally from Maarra in Syria, and her mother from Saidnaya; they lived in Damascus and then emigrated to the United States in 1910. Her family numbers seven children, of whom she lost two young men in this last war — they were among the finest and most brilliant of American youth.

Mrs. Sandra received her elementary and higher education in Rhode Island. Her inclination was chiefly toward artistic matters, so she mastered the science of interior decoration and spent four years in the study of music. She married in 1937 in Washington, the capital, where she made the acquaintance of the famous lawyer Mr. Joseph Saadou, and established her home there; then in 1947 she moved to New York, whither her husband's work had moved, and in that great city is her home today.

As for Mr. Saadou, he is known, despite his many occupations, for his continual sacrifices in the cause of charitable works and educational projects in the circles of the Arab colony in America. He is one of the founders of the Lebanese Syrian American Federation of the Eastern States, and was president of the Washington Syrian Club, in Washington. Mr. Saadou is in the front rank of those who concern themselves with the Arab causes and among those who raise their voice with the American government concerning its policy in the Arab countries. He was the first to concern himself with the question of the Palestinian refugees, and he helped found the American Office for Near East Relief, placing his own office in New York at the disposal of the relief office's committee until that committee found premises of its own for its work; it then elected Mr. Saadou treasurer of its fund.

Mr. Saadou came to the United States at the age of sixteen. He settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from its university with a B.A. degree; then he obtained his law degree from another university and entered as a member of the

"Bar Association," and worked with the American government in Washington until he established his own business in New York in 1945, where he formed the "Eastern Trade Agency"; today he is engaged in exporting American goods to the East.

Mr. Saadou and his lady wife visited the countries of the Arab East last year on account of his commercial business. That was Mrs. Sandra's first visit to the land of her ancestors, from which she returned to the United States amazed at its beauty, and at Lebanon's above all; and she set to work with diligence and energy to encourage the holding of a conference in our beloved country. She is her husband's right arm in the realization of this idea and in the preparations for the conference.

Mrs. Saadou always appears elegantly dressed, and she designs most of her own clothes. She has a special message for the Lebanese and Syrian woman: that she make her emancipation complete, that she demand all her rights, and that she feel her full responsibility as a member of society; and she counsels her not to be ashamed of work, for labor and a profession confer honor and bring about the feeling of freedom and responsibility.

An energetic lady who loves work and sacrifices much money and time in the cause of social services, adorned with the qualities of kindness, sincerity, leadership, and organization, she is respected and trusted by all who work with her.

She has visited Lebanon and Syria and loved the land of her ancestors with a surpassing love; she strives always to create friendly and fruitful relations between the two parties, believes in woman's possibilities, and wishes to become acquainted with a great number of our women on her journey this summer to attend the Conference of Emigrants. She is an executive member of this conference, and on the "Hospitality Committee," which is composed of ladies.

Mrs. Nassif was born in Pittsburgh, in the state of Pennsylvania. Her parents met in this country and married "by elopement"! Her father is Sheikh Zakhour Chehab of al-Husn.

She received her education in Pittsburgh and married at the age of nineteen. Her husband, Mr. Louis Nassif, was from Mount Lebanon. He came to this country at the age of thirteen and worked with his brothers in making sweets until he became independent and founded his own branch in Wheeling, in the state of West Virginia (Wheeling–West Virginia), and his confectionery factory became one of the largest factories in that town. After Mr. Louis's death in 1947, Mrs. Shahrban took over the supervision of this factory, founded thirty-five years ago and still enjoying the same renown.

Beyond this, she is an active member of her community, among the Americans and among the members of her colony. She has worked, and still works, diligently and energetically in the service of the American Red Cross, particularly during the war years, and she was on the supreme executive committee of that institution. She is a member of the American Cancer Society, and she took part in founding a theater for artistic plays in her town of Wheeling; she is likewise vice-president of the women's club in that town, whose members number some 700 American ladies.

Among the members of her colony, she founded the Lebanese-Syrian Club, which is a member of the "Federation" that will hold its conference in Syria and Lebanon this summer. She is famous for her lectures to American audiences on Syria and Lebanon, especially after her latest journey to those countries, which left a fine impression on her soul; that journey was on the occasion of the UNESCO meetings held in Beirut, when she was a member of the American delegation.

This gracious lady lost her son — her only child — in the flower of his youth in the last war, and the blow of this affliction fell most painfully upon the heart of the poor widowed mother. But did grief keep her from work? No. Rather, with the courage of the American woman and her energy, and with the patience of the Eastern woman, she resumed her labors and doubled her noble social activity.

Her counsel to the Lebanese and Syrian woman, resident and emigrant alike, is to preserve her time-honored traditions and to take pride in them — hospitality and generosity, womanliness and sobriety...

Mrs. Katrin Mokanna Barakat:

One of the most energetic American ladies of Lebanese origin, she is known for her many abilities, particularly in the world of commerce; she and her family have a famous store in Boston containing the loveliest and finest kinds of household linens and ladies' undergarments.

Mrs. Katrin was born in Beirut; she is the daughter of Constantine Mokanna, and her mother is from Shweir, of the Barakat family. Dr. Nastas Baz is her maternal aunt, as is Mrs. Zahia Barakat. Mrs. Katrin married a kinsman of hers, also of the house of Barakat: the well-known lawyer Mr. George Barakat.

Mrs. Katrin was a child of three when her parents left for the United States and made their home in the state of Maine — a state as close as can be to Lebanon in its natural scenery and its mountains. There Mrs. Katrin received her elementary education; then she went on to "Pratt" College in New York, but her desire to work quickly drew her to join her sister and her mother in managing their successful business in the city of Boston.

This estimable lady holds a high place in American and Lebanese-American society, and she occupies several positions in various associations and institutions. She is a member of the International Society for the Encouragement of Work, and an active member of numerous women's institutions; her house is a place of hospitality where friends and members of the associations gather, and she invites speakers on various occasions. She takes a special interest in the Dahr el-Bachek committee in Boston, and she also assists the Syrian Relief Society.

Mr. Barakat, her husband, is no less ardent than she in the cause of social services. He is president of the American Office for Near East Relief, and was formerly an official in the American government; he is a famous lawyer known for his high learning and his excellent character. He will accompany his wife on this journey to Lebanon and Syria; he is a member of the conference's executive committee, as she is a member of the Hospitality Committee.

Her message to the Lebanese and Syrian woman is to seek work and not be ashamed of it, to feel her independence as a member of society and consequently her responsibility in building the nation and in the spreading of education. She wishes her in particular to encourage the industries and the handcrafts for which our country is famous, for these fine arts have their value and are prized by advanced peoples, and they must not die.