Kawkab Amirka Newspapers, كوكب أمريكا‎ 1892-1896

Materials in this collection are in both Arabic and English with some English-language headings appearing on Arabic-language pages.

Kawkab Amirka, كوكب أمريكا [Star of America] was the first Arabic-language newspaper published in the United States. It was published in New York City from 1892 to 1908. Originally released as a weekly newspaper, in 1898 it was increased to a daily periodical. The roughly 300,000 copies per issue were circulated to subscribers around the world. The newspaper claimed an audience that spanned from North to South America and across the Ottoman Empire and Arab-speaking world.

Kawkab Amirka was founded with the goal of "bringing its eastern and western readers into closer and more intimate relations." The paper published articles from correspondents in Turkey, Egypt, India, Persia, Syria (modern day Syria and Lebanon), and the Barbary States of Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis. Though it circulated in the Ottoman Empire as well as in the United States, in its first issue it stated its intent to express the "true interests" of the early Arabic-speaking diaspora, which included "the 150,000 Ottoman subjects scattered throughout Europe, North and South America." To this end, the newspaper was primarily published in Arabic. However, many of the article titles were rendered in English, and many of the issues included articles in English. English-language newspapers in New York City often pulled from Kawkab's reporting for news from the Levant.

According to historian Elizabeth Booshada, it has traditionally been believed that the paper was founded by brothers Ibrahim [A.J.] and Najeeb Arbeely [Arbili], and that the paper's first editor was Najeeb M. Diab. However, Lillian George Shoucair [Choucair] has argued that her father-in-law Said Shoucair, who was living in America as a political exile due to his criticism of the Ottoman Empire, was both the founder and the first editor of the paper, and that the Arbeely brothers merely provided financial support. In addition to their involvement in the newspaper, the Arbeely brothers went on to have distinguished careers. Najeeb worked at Ellis Island, interviewing and assisting new Arabic-speaking immigrants and Ibrahim, following in the tradition of his father Dr. Joseph Arbeely, was a physician.

The paper is broadly representative of an Orthodox Christian view, and directs itself to an audience with similar beliefs. Like Shoucair, the Arbeely brothers had fled the Ottoman Empire after criticizing the Sultan. However, the paper took a predominantly neutral, or even complimentary, tone towards the Ottoman Empire. Nonetheless, the paper was associated with the Young Turks movement in the Ottoman Empire at various times during its publication.

The Kawkab Amirka Newspapers collection includes all of the surviving issues of the periodical. The dates range from April 15, 1892 to February 28, 1896. Topics include early Arab immigration, diasporic identity formation, religion, and politics.

This collection is arranged chronologically.

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[Identification of item], Kawkab Amirka Newspapers, كوكب أمريكا‎, NS 0003, Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies Archive, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Materials purchased by the Khayrallah Center from the Library of Congress, 2016 April (Accession No. 2016.002).

Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2017. Finding aid content contributed by Claire A. Kempa, 2017. Finding aid created by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.