Neal AbuNab tours the new Arab American National Museum on Monday before it opens to the public. "I think, from a Michiganian's point of view, it adds the flavor of our culture," the filmmaker from Dearborn says.Dearborn center captures contributions to U.S. life
Arab-American museum is point of pride
Preparations continue for the Arab-American museum's Thursday opening and celebration.Arab American National Museum
Address: 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.
Hours: Opens 5 p.m. Thursday; thereafter, it will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Admission: $6 for 13 and older; $3 for children 5-12.
What's there: Exhibits explore the history, culture and contributions of Arab-Americans.
Information: (313) 582-2266.
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Address: 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit.
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission: $8 Adults (13-61); $5 for seniors or children older than 3.
What's there: Exhibits show the history and contributions of African-Americans; a special presentation on the Negro Baseball League continues through Sept. 4.
Information: (313) 494-5800.
Holocaust Memorial Center
Address: 28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills.
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 9:30-12:30 Sunday.
Admission: Free, but donations accepted.
What's there: Permanent exhibits and docents share the history of the Holocaust.
Information: (248) 553-2400.
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A number of Arab-Americans say the museum will add to the vitality of the area, as much as it will tell the Arab-American story.
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DEARBORN -- It is a bright, shining moment for a community in Metro Detroit that has been under sharp focus in recent years.
The opening of the Arab American National Museum, the first of its kind in the country, is a striking achievement for Arab-Americans. Officials, dignitaries and just plain folks are traveling across the country and from the Middle East to attend a celebration at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Local Arab-Americans talk about the pride and the strong, goose-pimply emotions they feel in anticipation of the telling of their story and of the documentation of their contributions to the United States and the world -- contributions that are significant but, too often, little-noted.
But like the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Holocaust Memorial Center, the Arab American National Museum may ultimately say more about America than just Arab-America. What the museum and a growing number of ethnic museums across the country provide is not only a concentrated view of the history and accomplishments of a single group, but also a far larger sense of what America is.
"We're going to leave a legacy for our kids and grandchildren and generations to come, and I am excited about seeing our story told," said Warren David of Northville, a businessman who has long been active in the local Arab community. "But it is also an immigrant's story. We can all identify with that.
"You can take 'Arab-American museum' and you can easily substitute Polish, or Italian, or Irish or Jewish," David said. "It's all a part of being American."
Museums help kids learn
As schoolchildren visit the ethnic museums of Metro Detroit, their teachers say they are impressed by the experiences and accomplishments -- whether it be slavery and the heroic achievements in civil rights by African-Americans or the holocaust and the ultimate triumph of survival for Jews. For young people, a museum experience takes learning to a higher level.
"We believe that providing students with the opportunity to experience a field trip to the ethnic museums in our area allows the students to expand their horizons beyond the learning experience that the four walls of a classroom can provide," said Alycia Chase, who teaches about the American Dream with her colleague Fay Makki-Houry at West Bloomfield High School.
"Our school, like our country, is a very multicultural community," she said. "Yet, we tend to know so little about each other and our varied pasts."
Schoolchildren from several states visit the Holocaust Memorial in Farmington Hills every year.
"Learning is not confined to books," Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, executive vice president of the Holocaust Memorial, said of the universal appeal of ethnic museums. "It is particularly important for young men and women in the formative years to be exposed to experiential education."
When she visited the Arab American National Museum, on Michigan just west of Schaefer in Dearborn, Christy Coleman was impressed.
"These museums are a way to teach history, but they are also museums that help us to celebrate our diversity," said Coleman, president of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on Warren in Detroit.
More ethnic centers open
There are now 25 ethnic museums in New York City and seven in Chicago; a majority of the institutions in each city have opened in the last 25 years. Ethnic museums have opened across the country in recent years, including in California, Connecticut and Iowa. The Arab American National Museum will be the third ethnic museum in Metro Detroit.
A number of Arab-Americans say it will add to the vitality of the area, as much as it will tell the Arab-American story.
"I think, from a Michiganian's point of view, it adds the flavor of our culture," said Neal AbuNab, a filmmaker from Dearborn. "If we can begin to manufacture culture and intangible things through our diversity, we can attract people to the state."
Some of the ethnic museums are successful, and others struggle to remain afloat. The Wright Museum has vigorously pursued additional financing to close a budget gap, while the Polish Museum of America in Chicago remains open after 70 years.
Regardless of the universal quality of their appeal, the Arab American National Museum is a particular point of ethnic pride. Among those attending will be a school bus full of children from Chicago and Amre Moussa, secretary general of the League of Arab States.
"He sees Arab-Americans as a critical part of the Arab world," said Nasser Beydoun, a local businessman who is assisting Moussa on his visit. "And people need to know: Who are these people? Who are Arab-Americans and what have they contributed?
"And it's not a story that is told by the fanatics doing these horrendous acts in the news of recent years, who have hijacked the religion, and the culture, and the very sense of being Arab," Beydoun said.
Many local Arabs say they hope the museum will help break down barriers erected by media coverage that, they say, tends to stress negative and stereotypical messages.
"I would really ask anyone who wants to learn more about the culture to come and visit the museum," said Hassane Jamal, the economic development director for Dearborn Heights, "and see if what they think they know about us is what they see at the museum."
You can reach Gregg Krupa at (734) 462-2296 or gkrupa@detnews.com.
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