(Photograph No. 2)

The baseball used in that game, worn with age, still had visible markings detailing the scores of the games played in the early 1930's. This baseball was carefully wrapped by Mrs. Louis Abraham, whose husband was captain of the YMAC baseball team, and placed in a paper sack and then given to Louise Anawaty of Port Arthur for delivery to the Cultural Committee.

The City of Port Arthur is located in the Golden Triangle of east Texas along with Beaumont and Orange. It was the site of the Texas oil boom, a region where many Syrian Lebanese immigrants settled to provide merchant services to the areas fast growing economy. As in many other American cities, first generation Syrian Lebanese American youth gathered together to form the YMAC.

(Photograph No. 3)

In 1925 the Constitution of the YMAC was drafted with primary objectives of fellowship and heritage. The club's activities were varied but in the early years concentrated heavily on athletics, social events and competition. Pictured here is a 1929 photograph of the YMAC basketball team

(Photograph No. 3b)

and here the 1930 to 1931 award winning starting team for the YMAC, comprising, from left to right: Henry Anawaty, Bill Anawaty, Francis Abraham, Jamal Antone, and Lucky Akery.

(Photograph No. 4)

But in truth, it was the young girls of Port Arthur, who motivated and directed the goals and inspiration of the young men of the YMAC; pictured above are the young ladies of the L'Fatette Club, organized in the late 1920's. Pictured from left to right are: Rose Bofysil, Georgette Ashy, Annie Salem, Effie Ferris, Helen Anawaty, Vicky Balagia, Josephine Balagia, Adele Nacol, Julia George, Katie Bofysil, and Daisy Anawaty.

(Photograph No. 5)

Because one of its members, Bill Anawaty, an all-star in basketball, baseball, and track, worked as a newspaper reporter for the Port Arthur Daily News, all of the Club's events were well documented and publicized, and the notoriety created a great deal of excitement for the Port Arthur youth.

Eventually, tournaments would be held with other Syrian Lebanese American Clubs from neighboring cites: Beaumont, Victoria, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and state championships would be awarded.

(Photograph No. 6)

In the forefront of this newspaper article photograph is Aneese Semaan of San Antonio, manager of the Amesyr team of San Antonio, presenting the trophy to Louis Abraham, captain of the L'Monar team. Other members of the L'Monar team in back from left to right are: Francis Abraham, Ed Nicholas, Milton Abraham, Fred Ashy, Bill & Louis Anawaty.

(Photograph No. 7)

A detail account of the YMAC's softball achievements in 1932 were compiled in a booklet entitled "Spice of Life" prepared, edited and published by Bill Anawaty.

Indeed, the year 1932 was a hallmark year for the YMAC's softball team, who in May of 1932, changed its name to L'Monar. The dedication page indicates that this book is dedicated "to our youthful, non-professional, athletes, ... the champions that they are ... bearing the unrestrained colors of the L'Monar, whose demeanor would grace any and all destinations."

(Photograph No. 8)

This is the L'Monar Ramblers team who in 1932 won the Syrian State Championship with 13 wins and 1 loss. They were magnificent athletes, and they knew it.

Energetic and virile they were, but what motivated them? In the Spice of Life, Bill Anawaty postulates in a poem dedicated to the team,...

Where...Oh, where? which begins as follows:

From whence comes our spirit so undefiled?
It must be intrinsic or else 'twould be mild
Oh can it be favor from a hand of the Great
That showered us with victory to increase our faith

(Photograph No. 9)

Louis Abraham, age 25, captain and third baseman, was the first batter who provided the inspiration for the team;

(Photograph No. 10)

Louis Anawaty, the youngest man on the team at 16 years, was the second batter. He was regarded as a rookie and known as "Jinx". He grew up with the squad, having served as club mascot for five consecutive years;

(Photograph No. 11)

Milton Abraham, age 18, was the team's ubiquitous shortstop, who batted third position. He had a special knack for throwing to 1st base from almost any angle on the field.

(Photograph No. 12)

Bill Anawaty, age 23, was the team's only left-handed batter. He led the team both offensively and defensively with a batting average of .445 and a fielding percent of 1.000. Bill, of course, was the team's clean up, batting fourth;

Lucky Akery, age 25, a new comer, was the team's brilliant discovery for his phenomenal pitching ability. Lucky batted fifth place;

(Photograph No. 14)

Jamal Antone, at age 22 was the catcher who had rare ability to diagnose an opponent's weakness while at bat; Jamal was also a skillful place hitter who batted sixth place with a batting average of .426;

(Photograph No. 15)

Henry Anawaty, second baseman, also filled in as pitcher, and batted 7th place; Henry, at age 27, was one of the few "married men" on the team;

(Photograph No. 16)

Joe Naomi, 27 years of age and also married, played the strategic position of center fielder;

(Photograph No. 16)

George Ferris, a 17 year old rookie with great promise, served as alternate right-fielder and pinch hitter;

(Photograph No. 17)

Edward Ashy, at 18 years, usually played first base, but also alternated in the outfield;

(Photograph No. 18)

Jalal Antone, age 21, alternated in right field, but was being considered as an alternate pitcher;

(Photograph No. 19)

Phillip George, age 22, joined the team in mid season and served as an alternate in the outfield; ....

(Photograph No. 20)

and finally, Habeeb A. Amuny, the teams Business Manager, who according to this booklet, had remarkable foresight and a quiet, keen-minded personality.

This Championship team was featured in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" because of the number of players, three sets of brothers, whose names began with the letter "A": Abraham, Anawaty, Antone, Ashy, Akery, and Amuny.

(Photograph No. 20b)

But what would stimulate this youthful group to call for a National Federation as they eventually did in 1931? This was quite a jump from orchestrating local athletic competitions and social gatherings. The truth of the matter is that the idea to form a Federation of Syrian youth came from a publication,....

(Photograph No. 21)

The Syrian World, a monthly magazine published especially for the Syrian Lebanese American generation from 1926 to 1932 in New York City, thousands of miles away. The idea for a Federation was first conceived in the mind of its remarkable Editor who has been long forgotten by most, but whose footprints are found throughout the pre-world War II history of the Syrian Lebanese people in America.

(Photograph No. 22)

"CAN WE RETAIN OUR HERITAGE"?

With that headline question appearing in the November 1928 issue of The Syrian World, the call to form a Federation of Syrian societies was first sounded.

(Photograph No. 22)

It was through the influence of this short-lived but powerful magazine that Salloum Mokarzel, founder and Editor of the Syrian World, single handedly galvanized the Syrian Lebanese communities throughout the United States into forming Federations of Syrian-Lebanese American Clubs.

(Photograph No. 22b)

In that historic November 1928 publication, Salloum Mokarzel informed his readers of increasing ethnic consciousness among the younger generation of Syrians in the United States. He reported that many new clubs and societies were forming throughout the Country. Salloum said that it was time for the Syrians of America to prove that they are a valuable element in the composition of the American Nation. Let our people become conscious of their racial merits and claim their rightful position in the body social and politic of America" he stated. He urged action on a national scale which "consists of forming a National Federation of Syrian-American Societies in the Country.....".

He then posed this question:

"is not the time now right for such an effort?"

(Photograph No. 22c)

The following month of December 1928, the Reverend W.A. Mansur wrote the lead article in The Syrian World to carry forward the Federation idea. He wrote what ultimately became the philosophy of our Federation which is often repeated by our founders:

"We are Americans first (because we made America our home, because it is the home of our posterity and because we owe it to posterity to be for America first. We pledge to give to the United States a pure Americanism, the fullest loyalty, and an undivided allegiance. [But] we [also] love our Mother Land, we honor the memory of our illustrious ancestors, and we exalt the contributions our race has made to mankind."

(Photograph No. 22d)

By January of 1929 the Syrian World reported that pledges had been received from the Syrian Young Men's Society of Los Angeles, California, the Phoenicians of Jacksonville, Florida, the American-Syrian Federation of Brooklyn, New York, the Syrian Young Men's Society of Birmingham, Alabama, the Good Citizenship Club of Birmingham, Alabama, the Goodfellows Club of Tyler, Texas, and the Syrian-American Club of Detroit, Michigan.

(Photograph No. 22e)

Dr. H.A. Elkhourie, of Birmingham, Alabama, a prominent and outspoken defender of Syrian Lebanese immigrants as early as 1910, and who later served the Southern Federation as its third President, and who was founder and then President of the Syrian Young Men's Society, as well as the Good Citizenship Club of Birmingham, Alabama, gave his support to the formation of a Federation and was quoted in The Syrian World as saying that: "should the movement reach such a stage wherein my services over the Country as an emissary and propagator are needed, I shall be delighted to serve freely and gladly."

(Photograph No. 23b)

And the list of Clubs jumping on the bandwagon to Federate continued to grow. On October 31, 1929, The Young Men's Amusement Club responded to the call of Salloum Mokarzel. In a letter written by Kamal Antone and William Anawaty, Committee on Publicity for the Young Men's Amusement Club, to Salloum Mokarzel, they opened with the statement that "Although this is at a very late writing in response to the call of Syrians and Syrian organizations in America for a nation-wide Federation, this society (YMAC) would make it publicly known that it desires and would encourage such an arrangement."

And so it was that Salloum Mokarzel sowed the seed that would germinate throughout the Country in a call to Federate.

(Photograph No. 23c)

But in spite of the overwhelming support the idea received in 1928 and 1929, it would be several years before a Federation of Clubs would become a reality. To bring the idea to fruition would require the energy and enthusiasm of a strong youthful organization and a leader with vision. Habeeb Amuny, the elder member of the YMAC and its thinker, was an avid reader of The Syrian World. Habeeb had the opportunity to meet Salloum earlier when he traveled to Port Arthur at the behest of the Issac Joseph family in Austin Texas for the purpose of promoting the federation idea. Habeeb could see that the seed of the federation laid in the young energetic members of the YMAC and the clubs of the surrounding cities.

(Photograph No. 23d)

Through the influence and encouragement of H.A. Amuny and his sister, Jamilie Antone, the mother of Kamal Antone and the man we know as "Mr. Federation", the YMAC would eventually raise the flag of The Southern Federation of Syrian Lebanese American Clubs.

(Photograph No. 24)

It was in 1931 that the YMAC of Port Arthur launched its effort. An invitation was mailed to all young Syrian boys and girls of the southwest including Louisiana and surrounding states to attend a Fourth of July, 1931, dance and entertainment, centered at the Vaughan Hotel in Port Arthur, Texas. H.A. Amuny was to serve as Chairman of this first gathering. The magnet for the occasion was the game which would feature the powerful YMAC baseball team against the Young Men's Syrian Association baseball team of Houston, Texas.

(Photograph No. 24b)

A convention booklet for this first gathering was prepared and disseminated. The Booklet spoke of the need for a strong body, a federation, to hold the clubs in their area together. In it the proposition was advanced: "The Y.M.A.C., therefore, proposes a Southern Federation of Syrian Clubs, embracing all Syrian clubs of the Southern States, each club to be represented by four delegates to convene and draw up articles of federation." "Is not the time now right for such an effort" to form a National Federation, posed the YMAC, echoing Mokarzel's call two years earlier.

(Photograph No. 24c)

Newspaper accounts indicate that representatives from Syrian-American clubs in Houston, Austin, Waco, Tyler, Beaumont, San Antonio, Lafayette, Crowley, New Iberia, and Lake Charles attended this first gathering. The Convention Booklet proudly displayed the charter clubs who planned to attend this first gathering. Even thought the plans were well executed, the gathering failed to produce the desired results. The planned business meeting was short and disbanded without clear objectives. Although, the idea of a Federation was accepted with great enthusiasm, the participants, to the dismay of H.A. Amuny, were more interested in meeting and socializing with the others who had attended from around the country.

(Photograph No. 24d)

But this first gathering shaped the plans for the future and was otherwise a tremendous social hit. The group reveled in the entertainment hosted by the YMAC. At 10:00 p.m. a dance was held at the Vaughan Hotel Ballroom which went on until 2:00 a.m. At about 4:00 a.m., July 5, 1931, the 300 to 400 young conventioneers were taken by car to Port Neches Park where a sunrise breakfast was served. The highlight was, of course, the Sunday morning baseball game matching the Young Men's Syrian Association baseball team of Houston against the spirited YMAC team.

The Newspaper reported that following day that an agreement was made that the proposed Southern Federation of Syrian Clubs should be organized with delegates from 4 states, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi; that the YMAC would draw up Articles of Federation and that the Articles should be submitted to various Syrian bodies over the south for approval; that another convention would be held in 8 or 10 months to formally adopt the Articles and elect officers.

Fred Yazback, Chairman of the Lafayette, Louisiana delegation, was also quoted in the newspaper stating that a poll of his delegates praised the YMAC for its great vision: "The Young Men's Amusement Club has earned a lasting glory for itself in backing the idea to such extent," he told the crowd. "Too much praise cannot be given".

The YMAC chose H.A. Amuny and Henry Anawaty to draw up the first Articles of Federation for the next gathering. But before the Port Arthur convention was over, Habeeb was planning for the next gathering, and he wanted to be assured, this time, that the plans for the formation of the Federation would be realized.

(Photograph No. 24e)

At the time, H.A. was courting the beautiful Hanneh Joseph of Austin, Texas, who had, in 1927, been selected as the first runner-up at the International Beauty Pageant held in Galveston, Texas.

Hanneh and her sisters, Mary and Margaret Joseph, of Austin, Texas, shared H.A.'s dream of starting a Federation. The Issac Joseph family were personal friends of Salloum Mokarzel and Mr. Joseph helped Salloum make contacts in Texas and to foster the formation of a Federation.

The three Joseph girls attended the first gathering in Port Arthur as representatives of the Austin Syrian Girls Friendly Club, a club of 14 members organized one year earlier of which Margaret Joseph served as its first President.

So H.A. Amuny gave Hanneh Joseph his mailing list from the first gathering in Port Arthur. Realizing that Margaret Joseph had set a date in September of 1931, to hold Austin's first Labor Day Convention, H.A. Amuny wanted Hanneh to invite the same people to Austin for further discussions leading toward the formation a Federation.

Hence, less than 2 months later, the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, was convention headquarters for the delegates who were called at the invitation of the Austin Syrian Girls Friendly Club, to be held on Labor Day, September 7, 1931.

Again the delegates came, this time from all over Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Alabama. A picnic was hosted Sunday night at Barton Springs. The business session was to be held at the Driskill Hotel the following Monday morning under the sponsorship of the Austin Syrian Girls Friendly Club.

This time however, when the meeting convened in the main ballroom of the Driskill Hotel, Mary Joseph, in collaboration with the general manager, Mr. W. Lutcher Starke, locked the doors shut to the convention room so no one could leave until the business meeting was finished. The opening speech was given by Anthony J. Ferris of Syria who happen to be visiting Saadi Ferris of Austin, Texas. Ferris stressed the necessity of a Southern Federation and urged that steps toward its formation be pushed by the group. The address of welcome was given by Margaret Joseph and the response was given by Herman G. Nami of San Antonio, who served the Federation in 1937 as its forth President.

John Ferris of Austin was Chairman of the assembly which had approximately 400 delegates in attendance. No one was allowed to leave until the business at hand, the formation of a Federation, was addressed. But arguments erupted over matters concerning the site of the first convention and the founding city.

(Photograph No. 26)

A Banquet followed at Edson Hotel in Downtown Beaumont at the conclusion of the First Meeting. This Banquet was the first of many to follow.

(Photograph No. 27)

H. A. Amuny, as expected, was elected as the First President of the Southern Federation of Syrian Clubs.

Other officers elected were Sam Emmett of New Orleans, Vice President, and, Ms. Evelyn Kojak of Beaumont, then serving as President of the host club, the El Awanis of Beaumont, was elected the first Secretary/Treasurer of the Federation. The first goals of the newly formed Federation were to recruit member clubs from the thirteen Southern States of the United States of America, a goal that was quickly realized.