Saleh Family Papers

Emigration and immigration

Family business

Newspapers

Photographs

Biographical/Historical Note

Samir Saleh’s maternal great-grandparents lived in Pennsylvania, and both his grandfather, Majed, and great-aunt, Margaret Domit (called Aunt Peggy), were born in the United States. At some unknown point, Majed Moussa Domit returned to Lebanon, where he married Jamili Yousef (Khoury) Jreige. The couple had two children, Moussa and Cecilia, who were born and raised in Mazraat al-Tuffah.

When Moussa immigrated to the United States in 1953 to pursue his education, his sister Cecilia remained in Lebanon and married Fahd Saleh, a carpenter who had also grown up in Mazraat el-Tuffah. Cecelia and Fahd had six children together: Samir (Sam), Mounir, Youssef (Joe), DeGaulle, Lamia Saleh Ishak, and Maha Saleh Sfeir. Sam Saleh and his siblings planned to emigrate one-by-one as they reached college age. Sam, the eldest son, moved to North Carolina to attend college in the early 1970s; he was joined by his father. The onset of the Lebanese Civil War, however, changed the family's plans, and they decided to leave Lebanon together rather than individually. With assistance from Moussa Domit, who was living in Raleigh, North Carolina and serving as director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, Cecilia and four of their five remaining children (the eldest daughter remained in Lebanon) immigrated to North Carolina in 1974.

In 1977, with a financial investment of $20,000 from Moussa, the Saleh family opened a wholesale bakery located in Morrisville, North Carolina. Mounir and DeGaulle graduated from Campbell University and North Carolina State University, respectively. While Joe and Sam had intended to continue their higher education, the unexpected success of the bakery, Neomonde, demanded their full attention. In 1987, the brothers expanded their business to include a deli, and used family recipes developed by their mother Cecilia. In 2000, they opened a second location and relocated their wholesale facility and corporate offices to a 20,000-square-foot complex in Morrisville. 

Scope/Content Note

This collection contains photographs and newspaper articles about the Saleh family, primarily regarding the founding of their family business, Neomonde, and its success.

Samir Saleh

Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

1948-2008, undated

Processed by Khayrallah Program staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.

The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.

English

KC 0032