History-before-1900

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) …

Laima Vincė. When I was growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s, our family made a yearly summer pilgrimage to the St. Anthony’s Guest House on the Franciscan monastery grounds. My mother recalls spending her summers here in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, we would hear Lithuanian spoken on …

Reminiscences of Bernard Terway about his youth from 1940-1959 in Seltzer City, Pennsylvania, composed by Sandy Baksys. In June 1940, when I was just five weeks old, my father Joseph Tirva, 45, was buried alive in an accident in a “bootleg” coal mine. Dad’s so-called “coal hole” couldn’t have been …

“Destination Lithuanian America,” the five-year-long heritage mapping project, is coming to a close. This January, project director Augustinas Žemaitis added his last 100 discovered heritage sites to the 750-site compendium. The map covers Lithuanian-American churches, cemeteries, clubs, monuments, museums, and locations otherwise falling under the rubric of “Lithuanian heritage.” It …

By Kęstutis Civinskas. LITHUANIAN HERITAGE May / June 2021 The year is 1899. The world is at the doorstep of a new century. The final decade of the old century is described as gay, merry, and optimistic, even though there is economic depression in the US and no fewer than …

Linas Jegelevičius, Representing Draugas News in Lithuania. There are books that are so riveting that you just can’t put them down. Two books by Gediminas Kulikauskas, Contraband of Oranges and The Lithuanian Code, both bestsellers, are among my favorite reads. Their author, who also wrote, Electricity Boycott and The Republic …

By Daiva Steponavičienė. In 2009 we celebrated the 1000 year anniversary of the first mention of Lithuania in a written historical document. As part of the festivities, an array of reconstructed national outfits worn by Lithuanian tribes in the 1st – 12th centuries and during the period of the Grand …

By Gediminas Indreika. West of Alytus, between the Aniškis forest and Luksnėnu lake, lies the village of Kurnėnai. In the 1880s Laurynas (Laurent) Radziukynas trekked 8 kilometers daily to the nearest school in Miroslavas, a hardship that would leave an indelible impression in the boy’s mind. In 1934, as a …

By Miltiades Varvounis. After the last partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire. However, the Lithuanian national revival emerged during the late 19th century and the movement to establish an independent nation-state intensified during the early 20th century. During …