Our Eleven-Year Search for Maloof Phonograph Records Singer Lateefy Abdou
Our Eleven-Year Search for Maloof Phonograph Records Singer Lateefy Abdou
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| Photo of Lateefy Abdou. Courtesy of Samuel J. Hazo & Sam R. Hazo |
Here at Midwest Mahjar, I have more 78 rpm records on the Maloof Phonograph Company label by Lateefy Abdou than by almost any other Maloof recording artist, except Louis Wardiny and Salim Doumani. Yet, for over eleven years, I came no closer to uncovering any biographical information about the woman who released thirty-eight sides on one of Little Syria’s most popular and recognizable labels.
Who was Lateefy Abdou? Where was Lateefy Abdou? Why had no one ever celebrated her story? Why could we only find traces of her in Maloof Records advertisements and nowhere else? I searched and searched, returning to the same sources over and over, but I only came up with women who shared a similar name—women who were married with children by 1924, and none whose birth name or maiden name was Lateefy Abdou. Furthermore, the traces of evidence we had always referred to a Miss Lateefy Abdou, not Mrs.
First, there was Lateefy Younis Abdo Selvane (c. 1871/1873–1955). Born in Beirut, she immigrated to the United States in 1908 or 1909, settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, and died on January 8, 1955. She was already married to Abdo Selvane when she immigrated. She had two sons and one daughter, but she would have been fifty-two when she recorded in 1924. A likely candidate, her obituary appeared in the January 20, 1955 issue of The Caravan, but nowhere else. For years, I was convinced that this was likely our person, but I refused to publish my findings due to my inability to pinpoint Selvane with absolute certainty. She had documented relatives in Brooklyn. In some sources, her surname is spelled Selfany or Selfani; I do not know for sure why she even used the name Abdo, since multiple sources confirm her birth name was Lateefy Younis.
Next came Latafia Lilian Kacere Abdo (b. 1886/1890). Some sources suggest she was born in Iowa to Syrian immigrant parents, while others hint at a birth in Zahle. (Wasn't Alexander Maloof born in Zahle in 1884?) She immigrated to the United States around 1896 and lived in Toledo, Ohio; Mankato, Minnesota; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Married to Habib Abdo, the couple had nine children. She was the sister of Orthodox priest Rev. Joseph Kacere and an associate of Toledo’s Archbishop Samuel David. She died on January 1, 1948. I had even stood at her grave in Saint George Orthodox Cemetery in Cedar Rapids a few years ago. In her forties by 1924, she, too, was likely not the person I was searching for.
Then I turned to Arabic-language newspapers in the United States. The only times Latifah Abdou’s name ever appeared in Al-Hoda, Mirror of the West, or Al-Bayan were in Maloof Record advertisements. There was never any additional information—no place of residence, no birth year, no biographical articles, and no obituaries noting a singing career.
Nonetheless, I reached out to descendants. None had heard of a family member with a musical past. There was no oral history, no lore, and not a single person to corroborate or confirm stories of an ancestor who recorded for Alexander Maloof.
Then I located two small hints: a wedding announcement and an editorial in the 1920s Arabic-language press. Shockingly, the editorial hinted at Abdou’s anonymity. How could her contemporaries not even know who she was or have any biographical information about her?
The second hint contained the names of a bride and groom, a church, and a city. The groom’s name was even misspelled. After a search for descendants, emails sent, and voice messages left, I soon heard back: "Yep, you got the right one." Her 98-year-old son was alive and "sharp as a tack." They even had some of her 78s.
Lateefy Abdou (also listed as Latifa Abdou or "Lottie" Abdou) was born to Hanna "John" Abdou and Zarifa Haeck Abdou on June 26, 1894 in Sidon, Lebanon—or in 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, depending on which source is most accurate. Her headstone uses the 1902 birth date, but the 1910 U.S. Census lists her as 16 years old. The same document notes that John and Zarifa married at age 19 and that in the household were their children, George and Lottie, and John's siblings, Joseph, Katherine, Elias, and, their mother, Afifa. While the 1920 U.S. Census shows Lateefy’s parents immigrated in 1900 and Lateefy joined them in 1905, a 1902 ship manifest for the S.S. Blücher lists Zarifa and two children entering the U.S. in November. Whatever the case, Hanna and Zarifa became naturalized citizens, and as their minor children, Lateefy and George were naturalized as well (Lateefy would have needed no naturalization if she was U.S.-born).
The Abdou family settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. According to his naturalization documents, John actually immigrated to the United States in 1895, first resided in Bangor, Maine, and drifted between there, Boston, Providence, and, in the summer, Pittsburgh, before permanently relocating to Pittsburgh. John found work as a trade sales manager for James B. Haines Wholesaler, located on the corner of 10th Street and Liberty Avenue. John also had two brothers, Joseph & Elias Abdou, in Pittsburgh. Most of the Abdou children attended local public schools or the Epiphany School.
According to Linda Jacobs and Sarah Gualtieri, Syrians began immigrating to Pennsylvania in 1876 after the closing of the Philadelphia World's Fair (the Centennial International Exhibition). Their numbers increased over the next three decades, and by 1907 there were 16,300 Syrians in Pennsylvania. Although Scranton, Brownsville, DuBois, Johnstown, and Hazleton each logged populations of around 300 Syrians, Philadelphia had 700, and Pittsburgh became home to a whopping 2,300. In fact, in 1907, Pittsburgh had the fourth-largest recorded population of Syrians in the United States, behind Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Boston.
Syrians built the Maronite Church of Saint Ann in Pittsburgh’s lower Hill District in 1904. Maronites were the largest Greater Syrian religious group in the Steel City and maintained this congregation until the mid-1950s. Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church on Wylie Avenue followed in 1917, and one of the nation’s handful of Syrian Reform Protestant churches was also located in Pittsburgh. The Abdous attended the Church of Saint Ann through the early 1920s.
The newly built Church of the Epiphany, rectory, and school in Pittsburgh opened in 1902, serving mostly Irish, Italian, Eastern European, and Lebanese immigrant children. After completing her grade school education, Lateefy worked as a dressmaker, taught at Epiphany School, and began training as a nurse.
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| Lateefy working as a nurse. Courtesy of Samuel J. & Sam R. Hazo. |
Business fluctuated and customer traffic remained inconsistent. By May 1915, Abdou and his business partner requested that customers settle all debts. Abdou was adjudicated bankrupt and appeared before the District Court. A first meeting of creditors occurred on January 15, 1916, where liabilities were determined to be $2,725.38 and assets totaled $2,210.00.
Also in 1916, Lateefy Abdou made national news when she refused to marry a man to whom her father owed debt resulting from financial difficulties involving his dry goods store. Thomas Salim, a merchant in Donora, Pennsylvania, who had been introduced to Abdou by Rev. Father Gabriel Nader, charged that he had loaned $1,000 to Lateefy Abdou with the promise that she would marry him in exchange. When Abdou refused to wed Salim, he had an alderman charge her with larceny and "obtaining money under false pretenses."
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| Lateefy Abdou, misspelled as Abdon in the newspapers. Pittsburgh Press, January 1916. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
Police jailed Abdou, and she spent a night in jail before bail was posted and she was released. When questioned as to why she changed her mind about marriage, Abdou explained she wished to marry for love—not debt, money, or arrangement. No amount of money, "not even $1,000,000," could make her wed for any other reason. Despite pressure from Fr. Nader and Thomas Salim, Lateefy remained steadfast in her opposition to Salim’s proposals. Although her brother and cousin scurried to track down a district attorney, their failure to post bail before 10:00 p.m. meant Abdou had to spend the night in jail. In the end, Abdou promised to repay the loan but continued to refuse marriage to Salim. "Mr. Salim will get his money," she vowed, "but he will never get me." She made good on her vow.
Meanwhile, George J. Abdou, Lateefy’s brother, began working at Carroll & Dixon Printing in 1916. Within a year, he bought out Carroll’s shares and renamed the company Abdou & Dixon. A fire subsequently wiped out all the company’s assets and led to Abdou & Dixon’s demise. Determined to rebuild, however, George established Abdou Press at 312 Boulevard of the Allies. He married Aphia Navarre McCandless in 1919, and they had two daughters and a son. George became a prominent civic leader, holding memberships in the Pittsburgh Advertising Club, the Business Exchange Club, the Credit Men’s Association, the Knights of Columbus, and the Pittsburgh Lyceum, where he sang and performed regularly.
Lateefy, too, stepped into public and civic roles, accompanying her father at events in the Syrian/Lebanese American community and through the local YWCA. Since 1913, Syrian American clubs and churches had called upon John Abdou to perform on his oud at local events. As she grew older, Lateefy sang along with her father, lending her own vocals to his strummed quarter tones. Her uncle Elias, a local merchant and billiards champion, served as president of the local Syrian Young Men’s Association (founded in 1913) and secured his brother and niece as entertainment for the annual banquet in 1922. Local Syrians booked the Abdous for picnics, haflat, and other cultural celebrations. Lateefy also volunteered with the Pittsburgh YWCA; by 1923, she was the nationality chairperson and staffed the Syrian booth at the International Institute of the YMCA Christmas festival.
According to Lateefy Abdou’s son, a chance meeting at a local Syrian American celebration—where John Abdou played the oud and Lateefy sang—convinced guest Alexander Maloof to invite Lateefy to New York to record at Gennett’s 37th Street Studio on April 25, 1924. She recorded three songs on six sides. Between May 2, 1924 and June 12, 1924, Abdou attended seven more sessions, recording three or four songs per session for a total of twenty songs, making her one of Maloof Phonograph Records' most prolific singers. Given her output, one might think that Abdou recorded over several years rather than just a few months. Some of her best sellers were Maloof #2000AB "Mata Ya Keeram", Maloof #2007AB "Hawil Min Hena", and Maloof #2006AB "Fi Ardi Agdadi". We have ten of Abdou's recordings. On Maloof #2008B, Abdou twice performs a traditional zaghrouta in the middle of "Zalagit Il Aroosa."
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| Lateefy Abdou, "Mata Ya Keeram," Maloof 2000AB. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. https://youtu.be/KqbjFl8kYy4 |
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| Lateefy Abdou, "Waili Minal Garami," Maloof #2010. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. https://youtu.be/w4w2b6XtHJo |
"Latifa Abdo: Let's open our literary accounts. Let's read in them the figures of our progress in this diaspora where we have resided for decades to gain new lessons from the American environment. So what do we see? Our trade has progressed to the point that there is no longer a difference between it and the major trade of the homelands. Geniuses have emerged in the diaspora in the arts. Literature: We excel in poetry, philosophy, and criticism. Our writers in this part of the world have placed a stake and an arrow on the root of the old tree, no longer fit to bear fruit, and erected a trunk that promises the Arab nation a modern tree that will yield young fruit.
We can say that our progress is steady in every field except music. We have musicians of the old school who fill the nights with their lamentations, and their music is like stagnant water; if it is steeped, it will inevitably breed microbes that harm the drinker. Therefore, we have often wished for a musical talent to emerge among us, not a singer who merely masters the art of 'Ya Layl' and copies melodies from Egyptian and Syrian singers—melodies that are melodious but distorted and whose colors are fleeting—nor a percussionist who can measure his tunes in ancient rhythms dictated by the soul. We have wished for this, and our wait has been long. Perhaps our failure to produce a musical talent is the lowly position in which the public places anyone gifted in music, as if this art, which is of high standing among non-Arabs, is a source of shame and disgrace among us. This is why many musically gifted individuals have hidden their talents, fearing the lowly status that the public assigns to musicians. However, we have begun to understand that music is a beautiful art, and that the diverse talents bestowed by nature upon individuals should be greatly respected and given a high standing. The truth has become clear to us: the ignorance of the past in belittling talented musicians.
We now search for someone with musical talent to entrust with leadership, hoping they will complete our literary progress in this diaspora. In New York, we have a literary visitor who is a beacon of hope for us in Arabic music. This dear visitor is Miss Latifa Abdo, whom nature has blessed with a melodious voice and armed with courage and boldness. Despite her nation's disapproval of her musical talent, she has refused to bury the gift life has bestowed upon her in the land of dull shyness and meaningless embarrassment. Yet, she remains distant from the public eye. Although she is in seclusion, she sings to herself and lets the world hear the beauty of her melodies, not to provoke the ignorant masses, but to pave a path for them to appreciate music and place it in their lives.
First place: We told this true musician, 'Rise up! It is your duty to strive to promote music among your people.' Hesitation overwhelmed her, and she almost gave up, were it not for a surge of inner strength. Her passion for music overcame her inclination towards seclusion, and she rose without fear to take upon herself her share of the work for music. Yes, Latifa Abdo has begun, taking her first step on the path of work, and soon her music will spread throughout the land, recorded on phonographs, to be heard by those who can distinguish between the good and the bad, between essence and imitation. All we can say in this regard is that we are proud that our musical renaissance in North America has begun. And what we know of her is her willpower, which makes us anticipate a clear victory for her, contrary to an old habit among us Syrians that has led masters of musical talent to deny their own struggles, clearing the way for imitators who sing for the sake of singing. As for Latifa Abdo, she sings: 'Adoption is not for us, a wide path to reach our hope for Arabic music that sits on par with the music of the advanced West.'"
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2001, AB "Nazari Illa Wagh", - https://youtu.be/aOgzyvXkyv4
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2002 AB "Ismaoy Wasfa" - https://youtu.be/-0hufVHKKEU
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2006 AB "Fi Ardi Agdadi"- https://youtu.be/nIzjYGIVsU4
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2007 AB "Hawil Min Hena"- https://youtu.be/uvDzPuW_QIc
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof # 2008 AB "Oumi Tkhadari" - https://youtu.be/6-TZ7GmDpjY
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2011 "Ouloo Limon Sabatini"- https://youtu.be/I9sPTsPaP2Y
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2016 "Waheed Il Husn"Ya Tayr Yalli" - https://youtu.be/SSY3mTQz6Qo
Lateefy Abdou, Maloof #2017 - https://youtu.be/A5Y7Ub6DOEg
The circumstances that halted Lateefy’s singing career are also a mystery. She spoke at the March 1927 Syrian Men’s Club banquet, and two months later, she wed Palestinian-born Assyrian Salim (Samuel) Hazo at Pittsburgh’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral on May 10, 1927. Samuel, born in 1890, had immigrated to the United States in 1909 and worked as a Persian rug salesman for Pittsburgh importer Michael Neiamiah. Although he told personnel in the U.S. Passport office in 1924 that he was returning to Palestine to visit relatives and "to marry and bring back a wife," he returned to the U.S. unmarried, eventually seeking a wife within Pittsburgh’s Arab American community. Within four years of Sam and Latifah’s marriage, she gave birth to her only children: Sam (July 19, 1928) and Robert (1931). In 1930, she, Samuel, and young Sam lived with her parents at 1160 Murray Hill Avenue.
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| Samuel J. Hazo, Lateefy Abdou Hazo, and Salim Hazo. Courtesy of Samuel J. & Sam R. Hazo. |
Emergent on Pittsburgh's Arabic music scene in the late 1920s and early 1930s was a young oudist born as Joseph B. Abdulla. As his career progressed, he began using the name Joe Budway. Later joined by his violin-playing brother, Leo, and derbecki player Eddie Khoury, as marriage, children, and the rise of radio closed doors for Abdou, others resurfaced after the country began to dig itself out of a socioeconomic gulf. The Great Depression took a heavy toll on steelworkers, mineworkers, and those employed across numerous other industries in Pittsburgh. Despite economic turnarounds spurred by New Deal programs, tragedy struck the family. Zarifa Abdou died on September 12, 1934. Just short of a year later, Lateefy Abdou Hazo died of Bright’s disease (glomerulonephritis) on August 8, 1935. She was only forty-one years old. Her funeral was held at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, where she had married Samuel Hazo nearly eight years prior, leaving behind young sons aged seven and four.
In 1941, before either Sam or Robert entered their teens, their grandfather John Abdou passed away. It was Katherine Abdou—John’s unwed sister—who vowed to raise her young great-nephews, even though their father was alive and remarried in 1943.
The strong-willed Katherine Abdou made good on her promise to Lateefy, instilling a deep love and valuation of learning in Sam and Robert. This dedication is exemplified in both of their lifelong achievements:
Sam Hazo graduated early from Central Catholic High School and entered the University of Notre Dame in Indiana before turning eighteen. An award-winning debater and excellent writer, Sam graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in 1948. He taught at Pittsburgh’s Shady Side Academy while earning his master’s degree at Duquesne University. Although he was too young to fight in World War II, Sam joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served from 1950 to 1957. He trained in South Carolina, attended Officer Candidates School in Virginia, and received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1951, rising to the rank of captain by the end of his tour. While completing his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh, Sam published poetry, shared his views on Middle Eastern war and peace in the Pittsburgh Press, and reviewed art and literature texts. He married legal secretary and travel consultant Mary Anne Sarkis, and they had a son, also named Sam, who became a composer, music professor, and musician. The elder Sam taught English for over forty years at Duquesne University, where he held a distinguished professorship, and went on to publish over thirty books of poetry, seven books of fiction, six plays, and numerous works of literary criticism.
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| Samuel J. Hazo, 1954 Shady Side Academy Yearbook. Courtesy of Ancestry.com |
Like his older brother, Robert G. Hazo attended and graduated from Central Catholic High School, where he was a debater, bowler, in glee club, and on the debate team. Instead of Notre Dame, he chose to attend St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, to study economic and political thought. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he studied at Princeton University, the Sorbonne, and the American University of Beirut—the latter on Fulbright fellowships. He became a regular contributor to the Pittsburgh Press and an expert on the Middle East. After returning from Lebanon, Robert moved across the country to San Francisco, where he co-directed the Institute for Philosophical Research and later served as senior editor of Encyclopædia Britannica. In 1981, he created the University of Pittsburgh’s American Experience discussion series, which brought figures such as George H.W. Bush, William F. Buckley, Julian Bond, Geraldine Ferraro, and Ralph Nader to campus. Robert was also the author of The Idea of Love.
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| Robert G. Hazo, 1948, Central Catholic High School Yearbook, p. 49. Courtesy of Ancestry.com |
Although she died young, Lateefy Abdou Hazo undoubtedly would have been proud of her sons’ accomplishments and unsurprised that both her grandson, and one of her great-granddaughters, pursued careers in music. Samuel R. Hazo (born in 1966) is an award-winning composer, conductor, musician, and educator. A two-time graduate of Duquesne University, his compositions have been performed by orchestras across the United States, England, and Japan. He served as an artist-in-residence at the University of Minnesota and several other universities. He also earned a Doctorate of Arts in Music from William Carey University. Continuing the artistic lineage, his daughter, Anna Hazo, performs today as an independent pop/soul singer.
Taken as a whole, the story of Lateefy Abdou is more than a mystery solved after an eleven-year archival search; it is a testament to the quiet, foundational power of Arab American women in early twentieth-century culture. Though her recording career spanned only a brief window in the spring of 1924, Abdou’s voice—preserved on thirty-eight sides for Maloof Records—represents a groundbreaking bridge between traditional Middle Eastern music and the modern immigrant experience. Though institutional silence, familial modesty, and an early death nearly erased her from public memory, the discovery of her lineage reveals a vibrant, lasting legacy. Through her physical recordings and the intellectual, artistic, and musical contributions of her descendants, Lateefy Abdou’s voice, like those of Zekia Agob and Madame Marie, remains an indelible part of the Mahjari story.
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| Lateefy Abdou. Courtesy of Samuel J. & Sam R. Hazo. |
Special thanks to Samuel J. Hazo, Samuel R. Hazo, and the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University.
Richard M. Breaux
© Midwest Mahjar
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