Amideast’s first headquarters was Middle East House, an elegant beaux-arts building in New York City that was ideal for hosting cultural events, notably exhibits of art by rising Arab artists such as Iraqi Jawad Selim. In 1958, we relocated to Washington, DC, to be near government, foreign embassies, and educational institutions. From there we continued to host cultural outreach activities and engage audiences across the United States through regional offices in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, and a growing network of overseas offices. Middle East House was also noted for its library of resources, which would number 4,400 volumes by the mid-1960s.

Introducing a theme that would resonate throughout our history, we created the Intercultural Exchange Program to bring public-spirited leaders from the Middle East to America to lecture before students, churches, and civic groups and at the same time to provide them with ample opportunity to acquire firsthand knowledge of American life and institutions. Other new programs offered opportunities for Americans to participate in similar exchanges in the reverse direction.