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Arab-American community leader in the Dearborn-Detroit area of Michigan. Articles, manuscripts and poems on Islamic topics; topical files, 1948-1991, relating to Arab community affairs, including files concerning the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, 1986-1991 and the Federation of Islamic Associations of the U.S. and Canada; also correspondence and articles of Malcolm X; and photographs.

Based in Dearborn, MI, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) works to provide services and assistance to new immigrants. They seek to establish a sense of community among Arab Americans and to provide a place to express traditions and pursue cultural activities. The collection includes a history of the organization and of the Arab-American community in Detroit, newsletters, annual reports, and information about many of the organization's activities.

The ACCESS records encompass an array of items donated at different times and include historical information about ACCESS, announcements, programs, newsletters, reports, miscellaneous publications, and archived website.

Professor of anthropology at Wayne State University, active in issues and organizations specific to the Arab-American population of southeastern Michigan, particularly Dearborn, Michigan. Topical files document Arab and Arab-American culture and life. Organizational files document Aswad's involvement in such organizations as the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

The papers of Barbara Aswad consist primarily of materials relating to her involvement and activism within the Arab-American communities of metropolitan Detroit. The bulk of the collection chronicles her associations with both national and community-based Arab-American organizations, most notably the Arab-American Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) of Dearborn, Michigan. The collection has been divided into two series: Topical and Organizations.