Documentary Demo
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
in the cemeteries of old American industrial towns, one confined rows of gravestones carved with the Muslim star and crescent. Some of the graves even have poetry written in Ottoman Turkish. Who were these people? Why do they come to America and why have they been forgotten? The graves, unfortunately, cannot speak, and their families, whether in Turkey, Lebanon or Syria may not even know where they are buried. As Dr Cecile Kahan was studying to become a historian in Turkey, she was always puzzled at why American history books rarely talked about Turkish and Kurdish immigrants. Usually the historians ignored them completely. And other immigrants from the Ottoman Empire Armenians, Greeks, Jews and Syrians also received little attention. Americans know almost nothing about the role that thes people played in the development of their country. Immigrants from the Middle East don't have holidays like ST Patrick's Day or Columbus Day, and they aren't in any famous movies like Gone With the Wind in The Godfather. Doctor s Seal, aka Han, made it her mission to tell the story of the Ottoman peoples in America, and this is not a story that could be discovered only in the libraries or online. It is found in graveyards, in the streets and in the ruins of old factories. Let's join her to discover this lost history of Ottoman America. American scholar Todd Fine, an expert on the Manhattan neighborhood of Little Syria, will join us first. We will take you to the heart of the Ottoman Immigration, the New England state of Massachusetts.