Rahme Haider

Rahme Haider was said to be from Baalbek, in the Mount Lebanon region. She attended a Presbyterian mission school in Sidon, and then Denison University in Ohio.[https://books.google.com/books?id=b6xJAQAAMAAJ&dq=Rahme+Haider&pg=RA1-PA125 Annual Catalog], Denison University (1905): 125.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11713965/rahme_haider_1913/ "Syrian Woman to Address Club"] San Bernardino County Sun (November 2, 1913): 10. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} Other accounts, including her death certificate, gave her hometown as Damascus, and her parents as Joseph Abou Haidar and Younise Abou Haidar.Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Death Certificate for Rahme Haidar, dated November 1939 in Philadelphia.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11714060/rahme_haider_1918_in_texas/ "Charming Talk by Princess"] Corsicana Daily Sun (June 24, 1918): 11. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} She was assigned as a missionary to Syrians in Los Angeles in 1909, by the Northern Baptist Convention.[https://books.google.com/books?id=F3Hpz1nZUmQC&dq=Rahme+Haider&pg=RA4-PA13 Annual of the Northern Baptist Convention] (1910): 13.

Haider started a school for the children of Arabic speakers in Los Angeles.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11712604/rahme_haider_1909/ "Syrian Woman's Work"] Los Angeles Times (November 25, 1909): 25. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} She also ran a Baptist Sunday school for children, and an evening school for young men and women, in the Syrian community there.Rahme Haider, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CUFQAQAAMAAJ&dq=Rahme+Haider&pg=PA169 "Among the Syrians"] in Frances M. Schuyler, ed., A Record of the Work of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society (Chicago, Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, 1912-1913): 169-170. With some backing from a local Syrian businessman, Phares Behanessey, she raised funds with a 1909 gala event in which Los Angeles society women, dressed in their "picturesque" interpretations of Middle Eastern attire, performed in a pageant.[https://www.proquest.com/docview/159404654/4BE646AF66D43C8PQ/3 "Syrian Folk Illustrated; Local Ladies Shine in Oriental Togs"] Los Angeles Times (December 5, 1909): II15.

After her mission commitment ended, Haider toured from the mid-1910s to the mid-1930s as "Princess Rahme" (a self-created royal),[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11714169/rahme_haider_1921/ "Real Princess is Coming Here"] Pittsburg Sun (November 11, 1921): 6. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} in the United States and Canada,[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11713843/rahme_haider_1924_in_winnipeg/ "Syrian Princess Royal Again a Winnipeg Visitor"] Winnipeg Tribune (May 24, 1924): 14. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} giving lectures about Syrian history and culture to church and community groups.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11713759/rahme_haider_1917/ "Native of Holy Land to Speak"] Great Falls Tribune (June 3, 1917): 8. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} For many of her travels,[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11714395/rahme_haider_in_arkansas_1920/ "Princess Gives Lectures Here"] Arkansas Democrat (June 7, 1920): 5. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11714345/rahme_haider_1930/ "Princess Rahme is Adept at Portrayal of Biblical Stories"] New Castle News (February 7, 1930): 21. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} she traveled with H. Lucille Burgess, who joined her in dramatic and musical portions of her presentation. Later in her career, she added a slide show and short film to her presentation. Haider and Burgess sometimes offered acting classes too, and directed local children in Biblical pageants while they were visiting a town for an extended run.Amanda Eads, [http://ulcm.org/news/2016/03/26/the-story-of-princess-rahme-haidar-a-lebanese-american-missionary-and-a-performer- "Rahme Haidar – The Performer"] World Lebanese Cultural Union (March 26, 2016).

Rahme Haider's autobiography and travelogue, Under Syrian Stars, was published in 1929.Amanda Eads, [https://lebanesestudies.news.chass.ncsu.edu/2016/03/30/rahme-haidar-the-writer/ "Rahme Haidar – The Writer"] World Lebanese Cultural Union (March 30, 2016).Rahme Haidar, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iVxHGQAACAAJ Under Syrian Stars] (Fleming H. Revell Company 1929). In 1931 she declared her intention to seek American citizenship.Pennsylvania, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. One of her last publicized appearances was in Cortland, New York in January 1936.[http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2021/Cortland%20NY%20Standard/Cortland%20NY%20Standard%201936/Cortland%20NY%20Standard%201936%20-%200212.pdf "Arab Princess to Speak Here"] Cortland Standard (January 17, 1936): 5.

Haidar and Burgess traveled and worked together for years;Champagne, Matthew, [https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1260&context=mhr "When the Queer East Met the American West: How the Same-Sex Relationship Between a Syrian 'Princess' and her 'Secretary' Destabilized Orientalism in the Early Twentieth Century"] Madison Historical Review 19(1)(2022): 1-21. Burgess was usually described as Haidar's secretary,{{Cite news |date=1928-12-12 |title=Ruth and Naomi Splendid Drama |pages=17 |work=The Morning Call |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113051228/ruth-and-naomi-splendid-drama/ |access-date=2022-11-14 |via=Newspapers.com}} assistant, or companion.{{Cite news |date=September 16, 1922 |title=Princess Here to Lecture |pages=3 |work=San Pedro News Pilot |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19220916.2.60&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Lucille+Burgess%22------- |access-date=November 14, 2022 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}} Rahme Haidar died in 1939, in Philadelphia, in her fifties.

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Category:1880s births

Category:Baptist missionaries in the United States

Category:1939 deaths

Category:Syrian writers

Category:Female Christian missionaries

Category:Syrian Baptists

Category:Syrian Christian missionaries

Category:People from Baalbek

Category:Denison University alumni

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Category:People from Damascus