Author: LS

New Title in Series “Lithuanian Studies without Borders”

A new book The Art of Identity and Memory: Toward a Cultural History of the Two World Wars in Lithuania in series “Lithuanian Studies without Borders” came out in August of 2016. The book edited by Giedrė Jankevičiūtė & Rasutė Žukienė consists of wide-ranging set of articles. It is a forceful demonstration of how much the experience of EastCentral and Eastern Europe, largely neglected until now, needs to be integrated into evolving scholarship on the era of the world wars.

The collection diagnoses the challenge of achieving an enlarged historical and artistic perspective, and then goes on to meet it. Themes that are universal (exile, loss, trauma, survival, memory) and the undying subjects of art and artistic efforts at representation, here find specific expression. The case of Lithuania and its diverse populations is revealed in its full significance for a modern European history of the impact of the age of the world wars. The book is the first title in a new series dedicated to Lithuanian Studies. Other two books that came out in December of last year are: Spatial Concepts of Lithuania in the Long Nineteenth Century (ed. Darius Staliūnas) and The Creation of National Spaces in a Pluricultural Region: The Case of Prussian Lithuania by Vasilijus Safronovas.

A Century of Lithuanians in Springfield, Illinois: A Chronicle of One Lithuanian Community in the US

Dalia Cidzikaitė

The vast majority of current Lithuanians living in Springfield, IL (USA) come from Lithuanian miners who arrived to America from Lithuania in the early 20th century. In 1914, the Lithuanian community of Springfield consisted of several thousand Lithuanians. The records of Lithuanian St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Springfield show that year, over 500 Lithuanian families belonged to the church, and between 1909 and 1919, 1,063 Lithuanian babies were baptised there. However, these figures do not indicate the actual number of Lithuanians, because quite a number of them were socialists and did not belong to the church or visited other Catholic churches in the city, such as St. Aloysius, St. Peter and Paul and St. Joseph.

Today, when one comes across such names as Sitki, Nevitt, Yoggerst, Ulak or Chesnut, he or she can hardly tell that these people could be of Lithuanian descent. The reality is that the fourth generation of Lithuanians in Springfield does not speak Lithuanian and does not follow Lithuanian customs. Moreover, they are often unaware that their ancestors came from Lithuania.

It is believed that today 20 000 or so of the first wave of Lithuanian immigrants’ descendants live in Sangamon County of 200 000. Therefore, the book, A Century of Lithuanians in Springfield, Illinois by Sandy Baksys that came out in 2015 is particularly valuable for its genealogical and ethnographic information.

The stories in the book are accompanied by photos which the author obtained from Lithuanian families or individuals depicted in the book. According to the author, the photos appeared because she did not want the book to be just the family genealogical tree. In her opinion, the photos provide an extra glance at Lithuanian life, customs and history of that time.

Lithuanian Signs in Western Cultures

Prof. Dr. Nijolė Vaičiulėnaitė-Kašelionienė

This fall, the National Library of Lithuania Lithuanian Research Department initiated a series of events titled “Lithuanian Signs in Western Cultures.” At the first event, which took place on October 19, Prof. Dr. Nijolė Vaičiulėnaitė-Kašelionienė talked about Lithuanian signs in France and Francophone countries. She is the author of a monograph Lietuvos įvaizdis prancūzų literatūroje: vienos barbarybės istorija (2013) [Lithuania’s Image in French Literature: One Barbaric Story].

Prof. Dr. Giedrius Subačius.

 

On November 4, Prof. Dr. Giedrius Subačius, author of a book Upton Sinclair: The Lithuanian Jungle (2006) presented his research on Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle (1905). The life and work of the people, by then a young journalist had met with whom talked to him inspired and with his actors he chose the Lithuanians.

 

Web documentary on Current Issues of Migration

In fall of 2016, senior researcher of Lithuanian Studies Department at the National Library of Lithuania, Dr. Dalia Cidzikaitė, took part in a web documentary on contemporary migration “La Crise Migratoire et Nous” (in French and Lithuanian) created by French Institute in Lithuania.

Sixteen participants, from various walks of life, such as historians, a writer, a journalist, a lawyer, a philosopher, and others, shared their ideas about the history of migration, past and current events and lessons we should learn and remember in the future. The conversations which were filmed in France, Lithuania and Canada offer a broad view on current migration crisis in the world.

Please visit website

http://www.institutfrancais-lituanie.info/migration/#Sommaire_FR (in French) and/or http://www.institutfrancais-lituanie.info/Migracija/#Sommaire_LT (in Lithuanian) to listen to the participants talk about migration and its challenges.

Researching Archives in the US and Italy

In the archives of Lithuanian
Alliance of America

This fall, two National Library of Lithuania researchers visited Lithuanian archives abroad. In September, Dr. Giedrė Milerytė- Japertienė, senior researcher at Lithuanian Studies Research Department, travelled to New York, US. She, along with colleagues from the Lithuanian Central State Archive spent three weeks working in the archives of the organization, Lithuanian Alliance of America. The Lithuanian Alliance of America was founded in 1886 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. By establishing the organization, its members raised three objectives: to purchase land and property, establish schools, houses for orphans and older people, and build Lithuanian churches; to establish labour exchange for manual workers, where fellow Lithuanians could get support in finding a job; and to provide financial support for relatives of a deceased member. Continue reading “Researching Archives in the US and Italy”