Heritage Archives Initiative
We professionally restore, preserve, and revitalize Assyrian books, photographs, ephemera, poetry, typed or handwritten memoirs, letters, films, music, and historical documents. Our team also partners with leading academic institutions, scholars, and Assyrians in diaspora to create archival exhibitions, panel discussions, presentations, and publications.
Photo Credit: Dr. Ruth Kambar. Photo of the Yonkers Assyrian American Association’s annual Assyrian Flag Raising and Association’’s 108th Anniversary, at the Yonker's City Hall, March 2022. Dr. Kambar, member of the Assyrian Studies Association Board of Directors, spoke about her work on the ASA Heritage Archives.
Heritage Archiving
We collect and professionally archive historical Assyrian materials for scholarly research and for anyone who is interested in Assyrian heritage or culture. This initiative predominantly works with members of the Assyrian community to acquire materials in order to contribute to the historical record. We are currently working to provide public access to our archives from our extensive database.
We are interested in archiving your family collections. Nothing relating to Assyrian culture, history, and identity is insignificant. Please contact our:
Exhibitions Built from Our Heritage Archives
We're working with universities across the U.S. to plan, organize, and contribute archival materials that positively display the history of Assyrians.
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Among our sponsored projects are:
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Assyrians shown in Dr. Ruth Kambar and Annie Elias's film project entitled, Assyrians in Motion, 1937. The project provides back stories to images contained in two archival reels of film shot in 1937, documenting Assyrian refugees living in diaspora, having escaped genocide to establish a new home in the United States.
Assyrians in Motion
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Ruth Kambar and Annie Elias present the film research at the Assyrian Studies Symposium, Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University, 2023.
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A Race Against Time: Recording Assyrian Oral Histories Panelists Dr. Ruth Kambar, Annie Elias, and Kathy Sayad Zatari discuss the importance of documenting oral histories and preserving ephemera (memorabilia), including film, photographs, deeds, and other artifacts that fleeing Assyrians carried with them to the U.S., including ongoing efforts at California State University, Stanislaus. Moderated by Ishtar Saiyady, Assyrian Policy Institute.
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Sargon Donabed speaks at the New York University Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) while he also presents Assyrians in Motion to the Metropolitan Area Assyrians in Manhattan, New York while and celebrates the Assyrian New Year at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ishtar Gate Exhibition at ISAW.
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The Assyrian Cultural Foundation hosted the installment of the Nabu Circle Lecture Series on October 9, 2024. Ruth and Annie presented the film project, Assyrians in Motion.
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Assyrians in Motion is featured in Nineveh Magazine, A Publication of the Assyrian Foundation of America, Volume 44, Number 1, 2020. Assyrians of a Bygone Era by Elizabeth Mickaily-Huber, Ph.D.
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Image of postcard: Credit Paul Batou’s Diaspora 1915.
Dr. Erin Hughes, Project Director, Sarguis Modern Assyrian Heritage Project at California State University, Stanislaus;
Dr. Ruth Kambar, Project Co-Director and author of Assyrians in Yonkers (Arcadia Publishing); Kathy Sayad Zatari, Project Administrator, Retired attorney and advocate for the Assyrian Community; and Hannibal Travis, Project Humanities Consultant, Professor of Law at Florida International University and author of many titles, including The Assyrian Genocide Cultural and Political Legacies (Routledge Studies in Modern History).
This project was funded by a California Humanities grant in kind with California State University, Stanislaus.The Tell Our Stories: Artifacts from the Assyrian Genocide explored the Assyrian Genocide era (1895–1924), the subsequent experience of Assyrians resettling in California from Turkey and elsewhere in the former Ottoman Empire, and the exploration of oral history and historical artifacts to tell these stories.The exhibit was held on the California State University Stanislaus campus, from June 30, 2022, through August 27, 2022. The prime objective was to present the Assyrian Genocide through scholar’s presentations, publications, photos, films, historical records, books, clothing, art, and historical narratives.
Meet Our Archival Team
Ruth Kambar
Tomas Beth-Avdalla
Julia Bajone Hallisy
Christy Shalitta
Ashley Errington
Interested to Donate Materials?
If you are interested to submit your historical materials to the Assyrian Studies Association to professionally preserve and digitize, please submit a contact form HERE, or contact us at info@assyrianstudiesassociation.org
The Assyrian Studies Association generously thanks Roger Williams University Foundation to Promote Scholarship and Teaching for their support through student volunteers to help catalogue and digitize portions of this archival material from New Britain, CT and Massachusetts with Dr. Sargon Donabed.