Khalil A. Totah and Eva Marshall Totah papers

Ermina Jones Totah (1892-1928) married Khalil A. Totah in South China, Kennebec County, Maine in 1916. She went with him to Ramallah, Palestine, and was a teacher at the Friends Boys School. In the summer of 1923, she left Ramallah and came back to her family home in South China. In 1928, in an attempt to alleviate her depression, she went to Italy with Alice Jones [her mother], returning to Ramallah after two months and taking up teaching again. But, still in despair, she took her own life.

Eva Marshall Totah (c. 1896-1990) was born in South Dakota. She studied at William Penn College (now University, in Oskaloosa, Iowa) and received her B.A., then went onto her M.A. at Haverford College in 1919. (A copy of her thesis, "Settlement Music Schools: a Study and Interpretation," is in the college's archives). In 1927, she held a position as a drama and expression instructor in the department of speech at William Penn College. Later in 1927, she went to Ramallah to teach at the Friends School. She married Khalil A. Totah in 1929 and remained in Palestine. They had three children: Nabil Marshall Totah, Sibyl Belmont and Joy Totah Hilden. In 1937, on a sabbatical, the family came to the United States (including Haverford, PA). They returned and lived in Ramallah, Palestine until 1944, when they emigrated to the United States. Totah taught English, drama, dance, speech, religion and other subjects at Friends schools and elsewhere. Her own interests included a half-way house for women in California and the Crenshaw House for men. At the time of her death, Totah was a member of Whittier First Friends Meeting in California. (Information from Friends Journal 36 (Nov. 1990): 43-4 & Quaker Life 31 (Nov. 1990): 38 & internal evidence)

Khalil Totah (1886-1955), son of Abdullah and Azizeh [Mughannam] Totah, was born in Ramallah, Palestine He studied at the Church Mission Society School and Friends Hope Day School in Ramallah (1890-1900), and then New Boys Training School in Ramallah (1901-03), Brummana Friends School in Brummana, Lebanon (1903-04), and Church Mission Society English School, Jerusalem (1904-05). He then taught English at Friends Boys Training School in Ramallah (1905-06). He studied at Friends Oak Grove Seminary in Vassalboro, ME (1906-8) and Clark College in Worcester, MA, where he received his B.A. (1908-1911). He was principal of Friends Boys School, Ramallah, Palestine, in 1912-14 and again from 1927-1944. Totah was in compulsory Turkish Military Training Service for 3 months in 1914. In 1916 he married Ermina Jones in South China, Maine. He became a minister in the Society of Friends in Massachusetts (1914-16) and taught elementary school there (1916-18). He received his M.A. (thesis: "Friends Secondary Schools in America") and Ph.D. (in education; thesis: "Contributions of the Arabs to Education") from Columbia University in 1917 and 1926 respectively. He served as Y.M.C.A. Director with the 79th Division of the U.S. Army in France (1918-1919). From 1919-25, he was Principal of Governor's Teacher Training College in Jerusalem. After Ermina's death in 1928, he married Eva Marshall in 1929, and the couple had 3 children. Also in 1929 he visited Haverford College to raise money for the Friends School. (Haverford professor Elihu Grant was one of the founders of the school, and a mentor to Khalil Totah).In 1937, he was a delegate to the Friends World Conference. He was interim pastor at the Congregational Community Church in Mississippi, 1944-1945. From 1945-50, he was the Executive Director of the Institute of Arab American Affairs, New York. Totah became an American citizen in 1946. He lived in Whittier, California, from 1950-55 where he was a lecturer and writer. Khalil Totah died in Whittier, California, in 1955. (Information from Eva M. Totah)