“Syrian Town” was a multiethnic neighborhood at the heart of Easton that was completely demolished with 1960s urban renewal projects. Composed of Lebanese-, Italian-, Anglo- and African-American residents in roughly equal proportions, it lives on in the memories of its former residents. Students and I have reconstructed the neighborhood using Sanborn map and other images and by collecting oral histories of elderly former residents. I developed this project in response to interest among elderly community members and with the express purpose of providing an opportunity to engage undergraduates in field research. This research was supported by a “Community of Scholars” grant from Lafayette College and the Mellon Foundation, and by individual Excel Scholar grants.

The Syrian Town project led to two peer-reviewed journal articles co-authored with students, “The Language of “Blight” and Easton’s “Lebanese Town”: Understanding a Neighborhood’s Loss to Urban Renewal” was published by the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 2010 (with Rachel Scarpato, ‘08); and, “Thoroughly Mixed Yet Thoroughly Ethnic: Indexing Class with Ethnonyms” (Journal of Linguistics Anthropology) with Anna Eisenstein (‘13).

This project culminated in two books:  a book co-authored with Anna Eisenstein, Rebuilding Shattered Worlds, and a student- and community-member authored work of collaborative anthropology, Remembering Fourth and Lehigh, both of which are still available. 

Read a review of Rebuilding Shattered Worlds by Michael Silverstein.

Download a PDF of “Thoroughly Mixed Yet Thoroughly Ethnic: Indexing Class with Ethnonyms.”