Reem Awad-Rashmawi NSAB News, Resources, Uncategorized

NSAB Resource Spotlight

Sharing Resources Through NSABConnect

October’s NSABConnect member discussion group explored “Best Practices in Family History Research”, sparking a lively and generous exchange of ideas. Members shared websites, tools, and strategies that have helped them trace and better understand their Arab family histories.

We’re excited to share some of these resources with you in the hope that they support your own research journey—and to invite you to join the National Society for Arab and Arab American Genealogy as we learn and discover together. NSAB members also enjoy exclusive free access to our recorded webinars, complete with handouts. Because when it comes to family history, researching together makes all the difference. NSAB is not promoting any product or site listed – these were links or products discussed, shared or suggested by members during our October 2025 discussion.

Resources for Ottoman Records Research:
• https://photosmemoriesbyreem.com/2023/06/12/using-ottoman-records-in-arab-and-arab-american-genealogy-nufus-basic-register-header-translation/
• https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/the-ottoman-population-nufus-registers-for-family-history
• https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ottoman_Empire_Census
• https://palarchives.wixsite.com/website/ottomannufus
Research in Arab Genealogy from the FamilySearch Research Wiki (examples)
• https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Lebanon_Genealogy
• https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Palestine_Genealogy
How to Cite your Sources from Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills
• Sample QuickCheck Models | Evidence Explained
Technology: Goldie May: genealogy research software designed to accelerate your research, untangle family trees, and keep you organized.
• https://app.goldiemay.com/users/login
Family Tree Maker
• https://www.mackiev.com/ftm/
Family Tree Notebooks
• https://familytreenotebooks.com/
Understanding Google’s NotebookLM: an AI-powered research and storytelling assistant
• https://www.knowwhowearsthegenesinyourfamily.com/blog/exploring-google-notebooklm-for-genealogy-an-ai-powered-research-and-storytelling-assistant

Reem Awad-Rashmawi Resources

Using Yearbooks & Class Photos in Arab & Arab American Family History Research

Yearbooks and class photos can be rich sources of information when researching Arab and Arab American family histories. From elementary school through university, these records often include names, portraits, extracurricular activities, hometowns, and even aspirations—providing valuable context for family stories.

In the United States, many yearbooks are available on genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com and school sites such as Classmates.com. But don’t stop there—digitized collections like California Revealed and the Internet Archive also include yearbooks from schools across the country. For local research, try contacting public libraries, historical societies, or more directly, the schools themselves.

Yearbooks aren’t limited to schools the U.S. Institutions such as the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the American University in Cairo (AUC) have published online yearbooks. High schools such as Ramallah Friends School in Palestine and the Abdul Hamid Sharaf School in Jordan offer access to yearbooks for over 30 years online, while other schools have more recent availability and some none at all.  

Class photos, while less formal than yearbooks, may be more commonly found, especially further back in time. They may surface in family photo collections, on social media, or through school or hometown websites. Local historical societies or school archives may hold class photos. These photos are sometimes crowd-sourced on personal or broader platforms—providing an opportunity to recover names, dates, and stories with the help of community knowledge. 

These records can help you:

  • Locate relatives at different points in time
  • See name spellings and changes
  • Trace residence locations or patterns through schools attended
  • Find photos of family who were employed as teachers or school administrators
  • Build out your family’s social and community networks

Searching online using the location and if known, the school’s name, with the terms such as “class photo” or “yearbook” may turn up surprises.

When searching, try multiple spellings and variations—especially anglicized and Arabic versions of names and even locations. Consider searching for extended family, neighbors, or friends who may appear in yearbooks and class photos, especially if they’re mentioned in family stories or found in other records like censuses.

We’d love to hear what you discover. If you’ve found a family member—or a clue—in a yearbook or class photo, please share your findings with the NSAB community on social media or via email, or if you are a NSAB member, at one of our NSAB Connect discussions or in our Facebook group.

Almond & Fig: Food, Family Stories, and Identity

Almond & Fig: Food, Family Stories, and Identity by Mai Kakish will be held on Saturday, November 15 at 10:00 am PST/1:00 pm EST via Zoom. Register Here.

Mai Kakish, Palestinian American food blogger, will share how recipes carry stories, identity, and tradition across generations.

Mai Khader Kakish is a Palestinian-born marketing professional, storyteller, and content creator. She holds a master’s degree in marketing and public relations from DePaul University in Chicago, where she currently resides with her three daughters.

Mai serves as a marketing consultant for Ziyad Brand, the largest Middle Eastern food brand in North America. Beyond her professional work, she is deeply committed to community engagement, advocacy, and preserving Palestinian heritage through food and storytelling.

She is the founder and director of TEE, a long-running community program dedicated to teaching Arab American children Arabic language and culture. For over 18 years, she has led this initiative, using food, music, and immersive experiences to nurture cultural identity. She also serves on the board of the Seraj Library Project, a non-profit organization that establishes libraries and vibrant community centers in Palestinian villages and refugee camps.

Mai is a public speaker and advocate, sharing her firsthand experience of growing up under Israeli occupation in Palestine. Through storytelling and fundraising, she raises awareness about Palestinian history and supports initiatives that rebuild and empower Palestinian communities.

Her deep longing for home led her to create Almond and Fig, a platform that shares the history, injustices, and beauty of Palestine through food and personal narratives. More than just a food blog, Almond and Fig is a family memoir told through recipes, honoring her grandparents’ traditions and preserving the flavors of her homeland. Through @almondandfig, Mai hopes to inspire others to cook and appreciate the rich culinary heritage of Palestine, using food as a bridge to memory, culture, and conversation.

Arab American Migration and Communities: A Historical Lens for Family Research

Arab American Migration and Communities: A Historical Lens for Family Research by Dr. Nina Shoman-Dajani will be held on Saturday, August 23 at 10:00 am PST/1:00 pm EST via Zoom. Register here.

Understanding historical context is an essential part of family history research, including immigrants to the United States from Arabic speaking countries. Dr. Shoman-Dajani will walk attendees through the history of Arabs in the United States, while sharing stories of local Arab American communities.  

Dr. Nina Shoman-Dajani is the Assistant Dean of Learning Enrichment and College Readiness at Moraine Valley Community College where most of her work is focused on managing Adult Education programs and grants that serve marginalized and immigrant communities. In addition, Dr. Shoman-Dajani works as an adjunct professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Saint Xavier University and has served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC), where she taught Arab American studies.

She is a member of the National Advisory Council for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE), and co-chairs the Transnational-International committee and also serves as the co-chair for the MENA/SWANA Caucus. She is a former board member for the Syrian Community Network, a refugee resettlement agency in Chicago and also previously served as a board member for the Arab American Studies Association. She is currently the Executive Director of the Chicago Palestine Film Festival. Dr. Shoman-Dajani is a student and community advocate who has also volunteered as the advisor to the Arab Student Union at Moraine Valley Community College for the last 15 years.

Dr. Shoman-Dajani is currently partaking in the Cultivate: Women of Color Leadership Fellowship program which brings together women and nonbinary leaders of color engaged in social, economic, and racial justice movements in the Chicago region and is the recent recipient of two leadership awards, the Vernon O. Crawley Leadership Award (Moraine Valley Community College, April 2025) and the Change Agent Social Justice and Equity Award (NCORE, May 2025).

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies and her Master of Arts in International Affairs with a focus on U.S. Foreign and Domestic Policy from California State University, Sacramento. She earned her Doctor of Education degree at Benedictine University in Higher Education and Organizational Change. Her doctoral research focused on the racial identity construction of Arab American college students. She is one of the authors of the Arab Community Report titled Beyond Erasure and Profiling: Cultivating Strong and Vibrant Arab American Communities in Chicagoland published by the Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This publication includes an extensive study on the racial discrimination experienced by the Arab community of Chicago.

Reem Awad-Rashmawi Resources

Using WorldCat for Arab and Arab-American Family History Research

While it’s always exciting to find original records relating to our family, we shouldn’t disregard contextual resources that can help us flesh out our family’s story with details about the “when” and “where” of their lives. Published histories of a people group, region, era, occupation, or migration pattern can shed light on our ancestors’ experiences, even if their names are not directly mentioned. Libraries are an excellent place to search for these resources, and a great place to start in your search is “the world’s largest collection of information about materials in libraries”–WorldCat. 

WorldCat is a global catalog of library materials that, according to its website, includes 405 million books, 440 million articles, 6 million maps, and much more. They even have a page dedicated to helping you make the most of WorldCat for genealogy research. You can also explore user-curated book lists, such as “Books that Explore Arab and Arab American Experiences” or “Arab American Heritage Month: A Reading List.” 

But published materials aren’t the only things you can find through WorldCat. Manuscript collections, e.g. family papers, genealogies, photograph collections, and more are also included in the catalog. By using the Advanced Search feature, you can limit your search by format to “Manuscript” or “Downloadable Archival Material,” for example, and by language to English, Arabic, French, etc.

Once you find a title you’re interested in, you can scroll down to see which libraries near you own it. (Make sure to update the location at the top right of the webpage.) And if there isn’t a library nearby that owns a copy of the item you want to borrow, check with your local library to see if they can request it through interlibrary loan. 

2025 Arab American Family History Day

   

The National Society for Arab & Arab American Genealogy (NSAB) will hold our 2nd Annual Arab American Family History Day on April 26, 2025. It will be an all-day virtual event including presentations on different aspects of Arab & Arab American family history research, documentation and preservation.

Register HERE!

NSAB Presentation: Using the FamilySearch Wiki for Arab & Arab American Family History Research

Using the FamilySearch Wiki for Arab & Arab American Family History Research

The FamilySearch Research Wiki is a free, online genealogical guide created and maintained by FamilySearch. It contains links to genealogy databases, websites, other resources, research strategies, and genealogical guidance to assist in the search for your ancestors. Articles included are locality pages for countries around the world and topic pages that include pertinent genealogy record types explaining how to use the record, what it contains, and how to find it. NSAB welcomes members of the FamilySearch Wiki MENA team who will share how to use the Wiki as a resource for Arab & Arab American family history research.

Speakers:
Laura Daly, MLIS, Middle East & North Africa Outreach Intern, FamilySearch
Laura Daly holds a Master of Library and Information Studies and Archival Certification from the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU. She has focused her research on increasing the awareness and accessibility of records for people in the Middle East. She is currently part of the FamilySearch Middle East & North Africa Outreach team and loves to inspire and connect with other people on the path of family history discovery!

James Vogel, Middle East and North Africa Outreach Intern, FamilySearch
James Vogel has been on the FamilySearch Middle East and North Africa Outreach team since June 2023. A Connecticut native, James graduated from Brigham Young University with dual bachelor’s degrees in Arabic Language and Middle East Studies. During his university studies, he spent time in Morocco and Jordan in intensive Arabic learning programs.

REGISTER HERE