Abstract :
The earliest Lebanese in Southern California arrived around the turn of the twentieth century. Originally, they lived in an area east of downtown Los Angeles, still home to recent immigrants. Later, they moved west of downtown, as the location of their principal religious institutions shows us. Today s Lebanese are more widely scattered, with a substantial community in Orange County east of Los Angeles County. Most of the founders of the Lebanese Ladies Cultural Society live in or near Pasadena, an affluent city northeast of downtown Los Angeles. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Arab-Americans generally are a prosperous, well-educated, and professional group. The Lebanese remain the most numerous and affluent among Arab-Americans, and a substantial proportion among them are American-born and speak only English. Over sixty percent of foreign-born Lebanese immigrated after 1979, that is, during the worst of the civil war years. These general outlines also characterize the Lebanese population in Southern California (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005)
