Rahme Haider or Rahme Haidar (1880s – November 13, 1939), sometimes billed as "Princess" Rahme Haider, was a Lebanese-born educator and lecturer based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life

Rahme Haider was said to be from

Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...

, in the

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

region. She attended a Presbyterian mission school in

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, and then

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

in Ohio. Other accounts, including her death certificate, gave her hometown as

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, and her parents as Joseph Abou Haidar and Younise Abou Haidar.Ancestry.com. ''Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1968'' atabase on-line Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Death Certificate for Rahme Haidar, dated November 1939 in Philadelphia."Charming Talk by Princess"
''Corsicana Daily Sun'' (June 24, 1918): 11. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

She was assigned as a missionary to Syrians in Los Angeles in 1909, by the

Northern Baptist Convention The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainli ...

Career

Haider started a school for the children of Arabic speakers in Los Angeles. She also ran a Baptist Sunday school for children, and an evening school for young men and women, in the Syrian community there. 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. After her mission commitment ended, Haider toured from the mid-1910s to the mid-1930s as "Princess Rahme" (a self-created royal), in the United States and Canada,"Syrian Princess Royal Again a Winnipeg Visitor"
''Winnipeg Tribune'' (May 24, 1924): 14. via

giving lectures about Syrian history and culture to church and community groups. For many of her travels, 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. Rahme Haider's autobiography and travelogue, ''Under Syrian Stars'', was published in 1929. In 1931 she declared her intention to seek American citizenship. One of her last publicized appearances was in

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western ...

in January 1936.

Personal life

Haidar and Burgess traveled and worked together for years; Burgess was usually described as Haidar's secretary, assistant, or companion. Rahme Haidar died in 1939, in Philadelphia, in her fifties.

References

1880s births Baptist missionaries in the United States 1939 deaths Syrian writers Female Christian missionaries Syrian Baptists Syrian Christian missionaries People from Baalbek {{authority control People from Damascus