PHOTOGRAPHS FROM BEIRUT, LEBANON, 1954-56
Daniel W. VanArsdale, 7/2024

My last two years of high school, 1954-56, were at the American Community School (ACS) in Beirut, Lebanon, an English language boarding school.  At the time, my father was an employee of the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia. At this time relations between Arab countries and the US had remained fairly friendly for decades. I used to wander around alone in Beirut, sometimes in areas that would not be safe now. I took 35mm black and white photographs in Beirut and on ACS field trips to Baalbak and Damascus. Some are presented here.
                                                      Beirut International Airport                          "Prep", a day school for locals,                        Goatherd on a street next to the 
                                                                              looking up from the ACS dorms.                         Mediterranean, a couple blocks from ACS.
                                                                                                                            The herder makes a contemptuos
                                                                                                                            gesture ("Up Yours", also Italian)
                                                                                                                           occasionally seen from young men
                                                                                                                            in Beirut. However I never felt threatened.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        


                      
     This man came by ACS a few times displaying a highly trained monkey. I was told he did so all about the city, and asked for a small amount of money for the entertainment.


   .               
    American movies played in downtown Beirut theaters.          Downtown street scene.                                  ACS students regularly rode the trolley. Small herds of
                                                                                                                         goats or sheep were often seen in Beirut.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                    
Fully veiled women were common. Ethnic dress styles       Tripe. While walking through residential areas a
varied greatly. Some men wore very baggy pants. I         common smell was mutton cooking.
was told these were Druze.


                     
                                                                  This extremely narrow building was called the            ACS students went on 3 or 4 field trips. One was to Baalbek,
                                                                  "Spite" building. I was told that it was built           a Roman archaeological site famous for the extremely
                                                                  to block the Mediterranean view from a home              large blocks of stone employed.                                                                                                      behind it.  Here it is 70 years later.                     


                          
    Another field trip was to Damascus, above is the             An interior in Damascus.                                     An archaeological site in Damascus. That is me, age 17.
    border between Lebanon and Syria. These were
    peaceful times and Americans were welcomed guests.
    This border is likely better secured now.



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