The First Arab American National Museum
Celebrates Ground Breaking

As the ACCESS Community broke ground on the nation’s first Arab American National Museum on Monday, September 29, 2003, they caused a national focus on the Arab-American Community. Of 15,000 museums in the United States, there is not one that documents and preserves the heritage and contributions of Arab-Americans and Arabs.
The museum isn’t just about the building, it is about learning, said H.E. Abdullah Al attayah, Minister of Energy of Qatar.
 

He is most certainly correct. The museum will be a gateway to educational initiatives, which foster a greater understanding of Arab heritage, lifestyle and practices among Arabs and non-Arabs.
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) attended the groundbreaking ceremony and stated that she and U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell (D-15th District) would raise at least $200,000 for the museum, in addition to helping with matching funds. GM Vice President Rod Gillum announced a $1 million pledge from his corporation at the event. The early support of Ford Motor Co. with a lead $2 million gift was acknowledged along with major gifts of $1.5 million from the Kresge Foundation, $1 million from DaimlerChrysler and $500,000 each from DTE Energy and Comerica Bank. Local officials including Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, State Sen. Irma Clark, State Rep Morris Hood III, Dearborn City Council President Jack O’Reilly and many others were present.
The museum has also received significant support and recognition from the international community.
H.E. Abdullah Al’attiyah, chair of OPEC and Energy Minister of Qatar, presented $1 million to the museum at the groundbreaking ceremony, on behalf of his country. H.E. Amre Moussa, Secretary General, League of Arab States also attended the event.
We are extremely pleased with the generous support of the international, national and business communities, corporations, foundations, government funds and individual contributions. Their support demonstrates a true commitment to the needs of the communities they represent.
To date, the Arab American Heritage Campaign has raised $12 million of its $16 million goal.
ACCESS must raise the remaining $4 million by June 2004 to meet the Kresge challenge.
The Arab American National Museum, expected to open in October 2004, will be a historic landmark in Michigan and in the United States. It will be the first to document, honor and display the lives and contributions Arabs and Arab-Americans have made and continue to make to our society.
Dr. Anan Ameri, Museum director, in her welcoming remarks said:
"I am humbled and honored to stand in front of you on this historic day as we are about to break ground for the first ever Arab American National Museum.
"This is a historic day, not only for ACCESS and the Arab-American community in Detroit, but also for Arab-Americans nationwide and for many of our friends and allies, who like us, have been eagerly waiting for this day. Today, one of our dreams becomes a reality. This has been a dream for many Arab-Americans, but it took an organization like ACCESS; an organization with a vision and determination to make this dream become a reality.
"What makes ACCESS a unique organization, is not only that it has the vision and determination, but it also has the ability to realize the wealth of resources members of our community have, and to draw on their experience and knowledge.
"ACCESS has the ability to empower our community by getting it involved in what we do. As soon as the decision was made to build the museum, we established the Museum Task Force. An advisory committee composed of 25 members, of community leaders, scholars and university professors and museum experts to advise U.S. as we move to create the museum and its exhibits.
"We also involved our community nationwide. We held two national meetings, in Dec 2001 and October 2002: each meeting was for two days. More than fifty Arab-American community leaders and scholars from every city came to Detroit and shared their vision, experience and stories with us. We traveled across the country and visited every city that has a large Arab-American community, we held community meetings and focus groups, and we listened carefully to what people have to say, we got feedback from our communities, and we established Regional Committees in these cities which are helping U.S. conduct research, collect data and artifacts, and will help U.S. in our national membership drive and once the museum opens, will host some of our exhibits and cultural events.
"There are more than 1,500 museums in this country, every day almost five million people, mostly school students, visit museums, learn about the history of this country and its ethnic minorities, There are Asian American, African American, Latin American and Jewish American Museums.
"But there is not a single museum about Arab-Americans. In this country Arab-Americans are written out of its history, out of its textbooks, out of museum exhibits.
"If people learn anything about the Arab world or Arab-Americans it is usually inaccurate and negative information, full of lies and stereotypes. And we at ACCESS are determined to change all that, and we will.
"Where We Came From is an exhibit that will occupy the first floor and will be about the Arab World and contributions to world civilization in science, math, medicine, art and religion. Most people in this country, including our own children, have very little knowledge about the Arab World. It is hard to believe that until today many people in this country think of Arabs as a bunch of nomads, or a bunch of terrorists. Definitely September 11 did not help to change this picture, but the Arab American Museum will.
"The museum will also have a permanent exhibit about Arab-Americans, their immigration history, daily life experiences and the contributions they made and continue to make to this country. Most people think of Arab-Americans as a few recent immigrants who had hardly contributed to this country. We are proud of our recent immigrants, hard working people, but we have been here for hundreds of years. The first Arab-American landed in this country in 1524, he was a Moroccan slave brought on a Spanish ship, became healer to Native Americans and is considered one of the early explorers of the South.
"The museum will pay tribute to individual Arab-Americans like Dr. DeBakey, who invented the heart pump, to consumers advocate Ralph Nader, George Addes, a most important figure in the history of UAW, teacher Mukhlaf who died in the Challenger, Danny Thomas who built St. Jude hospital. The museum will have two galleries for traveling and rotating exhibits.
"The museum will also have a Library and Research Center. This will be the place for people, including students, researchers, journalists and scholars to come to find accurate information about the Arab World and Arab-Americans. We will have a conventional library with books, references, magazines and videos about Arab-Americans and the Arab World. It will also have a virtual part where people nationally and internationally can visit our exhibits and access information via the Internet.
"My friends, we are creating an institution that you will be proud of. An institution that will make our children be proud of who they are and their cultural heritage. We want our children to stand up and say I am proud of my Arab heritage, and I am proud to be an Arab-American.
"I want to thank ACCESS Cultural Arts Staff who have put endless hours, long evening meetings and many weekends to make this great dream become a reality."
Members of the Museum Board of Directors are: Mike Makki, president; Lyn M Brimer, development committee chair; Michael Saraf, co-chair; Ismael Ahmed, executive director; Hassan Jaber, associate executive director; Dr. Anan Ameri, Museum Director; and Maha Freij, chief financial officer.
For more information or to know how and where to send historical documents, books, photos and artifacts, contact Dr. Anan Ameri, Museum Director, at (313) 843-2844, and for those who wish to contribute to this non-profit museum, contact Maha Freij at (313) 842-7010. Mailing address: Arab-American National Museum, ACCESS, 2651 Saulino Ct., Dearborn, MI 48120. Or visit: www.accesscommunity.org