Cedars in the Pines: The Lebanese in North Carolina follows the experiences of Lebanese immigrants from two waves of immigration. The first wave arrived between the 1880s and the 1920s when economic decline, famine and war encouraged the Lebanese to leave for the Americas and Africa. Some found their way to North Carolina. Another wave of Lebanese immigrants began to arrive in 1975, when the civil war broke out in Lebanon. The internal conflict and continuing regional tensions have led more Lebanese to emigrate.
Cedars in the Pines brings together their remarkable stories in three exhibit sections: Journeys,Belonging and Being.
The exhibit features personal stories, family photographs, home movies, letters, artifacts, video and audio recordings that bring to life the story of Lebanese immigration in North Carolina. Computer games, Arabic music, a dance floor to learn steps of thedabke, and other interactive components further immerse museum visitors in the Lebanese immigration experience.
The first exhibition to narrate the history of Lebanese immigrants who have made North Carolina their homes since the 1880s opened at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh, NC in March 2012 and ran until August 2014. It is currently housed at Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC. In March 2015, it will travel to Charlotte, NC.
Below are links to news reports about the exhibit: