Alixa Naff.

Arab American historian and scholar Alixa Naff passed away on June 8 at 93 years of age. Naff was widely known for documenting the lives of the first wave of Arab American immigrants. 

Through her research, Naff greatly contributed to the understanding of the early Arab immigrant experience in the United States, from 1880 through the 1950s. The collection, known as the Faris and Yamna Naff Family Arab American Collection, was featured in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History over several years, from 1983-2007, and was named after Naff’s parents. 

This large collection contains more than 2,000 photographs, 450 oral histories and 500 artifacts, including personal and household goods, and is displayed in the Museum’s Archives Center and in its Division of Home and Community Life. 

Naff’s contributions to documenting the arrival and assimilation of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants and their families provides a rich legacy for researchers and scholars, and allows the Museum to share this unique perspective of American history with future generations.