Rahme Haider

She attended a Presbyterian mission school in Sidon, and then Denison University in Ohio.

[5] Haider started a school for the children of Arabic speakers in Los Angeles.

[7] With some backing from a local Syrian businessman, Phares Behanessey, she raised funds with a 1909 gala event in which Los Angeles society women, dressed in their "picturesque" interpretations of Middle Eastern attire, performed in a pageant.

[8] After her mission commitment ended, Haider toured from the mid-1910s to the mid-1930s as "Princess Rahme" (a self-created royal),[9] in the United States and Canada,[10] giving lectures about Syrian history and culture to church and community groups.

Haider and Burgess sometimes offered acting classes too, and directed local children in Biblical pageants while they were visiting a town for an extended run.