DRAUGAS NEWS Lithuanian World Wide News in English

by Tom Gregg (Grigonis) Prologue A modern five-year-old Amer ican child’s exposure to the world is often confined largely to family, children’s picture books and television kid shows. Supplementing my personal mix back in the early Jet Age, from halfway across another continent came an adult’s book kept in the …

by Milliades Varvounis There were only four Jesuit missionaries from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth preaching the Word of God in the Heart of Asia in the 17th-18th centuries! Despite their small number, they left their mark on the history of the religious, scientific, and even political relations between Europe and Asia. …

LH: Can you tell us something about yourself, and why you are interested in the history of Mahanoy City in Pennsylvania, and why you are interested in the history of Lithuanian Americans in Mahanoy? Do you have any ancestors or close relatives that came from Lithuania? Coombe: I was born …

by Elena Bradūnas-Aglinskas In 1972 I embarked on a documentary expedition to the anthracite region of eastern Pennsylvania to see if the Lithuanian immigrants who came to America at the turn of the 19th–20th century remembered any songs from the “old country.” I focused primarily on the town of Shenandoah, …

Lukrecijus Tubys This summer, heritage conservationist and cultural explorer Vilius Žalpys led another group of young Lithuanians on the fourth annual “Roots” (Šaknys) expedition, aimed at restoring abandoned graves of Lithuanian immigrants and uncovering the stories of their ancestors. The group traveled to Pennsylvania’s Anthracite region, known for its historic …

by Tom Gregg (Grigonis) Eons ago in his prime he depicted the country’s elite, including Arvydas Sabonis senior, Valdas Adamkus, Jonas Mekas and Vytautas Landsbergis. He chronicled demonstrations in Kaunas following Romas Kalanta’s self-immolation in 1972. For this he was arrested, sentenced to 15 days in jail, and expelled (temporarily) …

by Darius Norvilas In 1885, Lithuania had been under Russian occupation for 90 years. That year Aleksandras Stulginskis was born near the small hamlet of Kaltinėnai in the Šilalės district of Žemaitija. From humble origins, Stulginskis would go on to have one of the most important résumés in modern Lithuania …

Birutė Vaičjurgis Šležas Couples stepping smartly on the dance floor to the sounds of a foxtrot, the bandleader directing black and white musicians in jazzy renditions of the latest hits, the haughty diva strutting through a glittering crowd to the posh table reserved for celebrities. Is this London, New York, …

Liepa Boberienė. Few moments in history capture the essence of human determination and solidarity as vividly as the Baltic Way. On August 23, 1989, this momentous event not only hastened the demise of our Soviet occupiers but also sparked a worldwide movement for freedom. It serves to this day as …

Julius (Jay) Sakas. In the early hours of July 15, 1933, a heavily laden airplane, the Bellanca 300 christened the Lituanica, lifted off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York City. Two Lithuanian aviators had just taken to the air in pursuit of their dream. Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas …