Object Record
Images
Metadata
Accession Number |
2004.08.00 |
Catalog Number |
2004.08.01 |
Object Name |
Gown, Academic |
Collection |
Joy May Hilden |
Description |
Academic robe with cap and hood, 1926. Khalil Totah dedicated his life to education. Born just outside of Jerusalem in 1886, Khalil came to the U.S. to further his education in 1906. After two years at a boarding school in Maine, Khalil attended Clark University in Massachusetts, and graduated in 1911. He then received his Master's degree from Columbia University, and returned to Palestine to become the principal of the Friends (Quaker) Boys School in his village of Ram Allah. At the time, Palestine was colonized by the Ottoman Empire (modern day Turkey). In order to escape being drafted into the Turkish Army, Khalil went to the U.S. where he joined the American Expeditionary Force in France as Y.M.C.A. Secretary in 1918. Afterwards, he returned to Palestine for six years, before accepting a fellowship to Columbia University. In 1926, he completed his doctoral dissertation on Arab Education. For the third time, Khalil returned to Palestine, where he resumed the position of Principal at the Friends Boys School for the next seventeen years. In 1944, Khalil and his wife came to the U.S. to settle permanently. Between 1945 and 1950, he worked as the Executive Director of the Institute of Arab American Affairs in New York City. Khalil became a U.S. citizen in 1946. Khalil was not only a dedicated educator, but also a vocal activist for the Palestinian cause, and he published several books on the history and geography of Palestine. |
Search Terms |
Arab American scholars Palestinian Americans |
Lexicon category |
8: Communication Artifact |