History-1900+

BY ALGIRDAS BUDRECKIS DURING THE AMERICAN Revolution, the Continental Congress built and commissioned a number of men-of-war. Several colonies also maintained their own fleets to engage the British warships and convoys. However, it was not the fledgling American Navy which bore the brunt of seafighting. The burden rested on the …

  The Vilnius University, which celebrates its 425th anniversary this year, is the oldest establishment of higher education in Lithuania. Established in 1579, for a long time it became the easternmost European university spreading the light of learning not only to ethnic Lithuania, the multinational Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but …

BY JOHN J. CHERNOSKI (ČERNIAUSKAS) “Little Lithuania, Usa” Schuylkill County, PA THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES THERE ARE NUMEROUS places where a particular ethnic group has long been identified with an area, and names such as “Little Italy,” “Germantown,” “Chinatown,” etc. have become a part of the local fabric. I decided …

BY INA BERTULYTĖ BRAY SEPTEMBER 9, 1990. CNN SHOWS A JET FIGHTER slicing the TV screen, vanishing, then — a ball of fire.The announcer calmly reports that a Soviet Sukhoi SU-27 airplane crashed at an air show in Italy, killing the pilot and a bystander, injuring eight. Another disaster with …

By Gloria O’Brien-Kivytaitė. KUNIGAS ATEINA KALĖDOT’ Recollections about an on old Lithuanian parish and the Christmas-time custom that Lithuanian immigrants had brought with them from the Old Country. DURING the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s Brooklyn’s Apreiškimo Parapija (Annunciation Parish) was wellknown as a Lithuanian stronghold. As a “national parish,” without …

by Tom Gregg (Grigonis) Three Lithuanian American brothers each played football well enough to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. That’s a unique accomplishment, and maybe the heart of our story. But even taking a wider view, the saga of the eight member Wistert family is extraordinary. …

By Edward Baranauskas Remembering Darius-Girėnas Memorial 1933-2003 SEVENTY YEARS AGO, ON July 15, 1933, two Lithuanian American flyers, Stephen (Steponas) Darius and Stanley (Stasys) Girėnas, took off from Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn, New York at 6:24 A.M. EDT, on their attempted nonstop trans-Atlantic flight to Kaunas, at that time the provisional …

BY JOHN MILLAR ASOFT “CLUNK” FROM SOMEWHERE BELOW my feet and a slight, insistent pressure pushing me back into the seat indicated that the undercarriage had retracted and the aircraft was reaching for altitude. I leaned my head against the headrest as my thoughts went swirling, tumbling crazily through my …

By Edward Baranauskas I BELIEVE MANY AMERICANS OF LITHUANIAN descent may be wondering how they can learn more about their ancestors and roots. The wonderful adventure of searching for the past may not be as difficult as one may think, but it does require patience. The place to start is …

By Tom Gregg Webster’s defines Bohemian as a person, often a poet or artist, with an unconventional lifestyle. World War II Lithuanian refugee and longtime filmmaker and poet Jonas Mekas has consistently qualified. HE BEATNIKS were the hippies of America’s 1950s. If you remember the era, you certainly remember them. …