Highlights – Summer 2026

The summer months were hardly idle at the Lithuanian Research Center (LRC). We continued receiving books and archives, hosted events, and participated in various functions, including the 17th North American Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival. How appropriate that we received various materials from the Estate of Bruno Shotas, the “Father” of the folk dance festivals.

LRC also received the archives of Nikodemas Kulys (1897-1982) from his son Joe Kulys. Nikodemas was an organist, choir master, music teacher and editor of Muzikos Žinios in Chicago for many years. The family of Liudas Kairys continues sharing his legacy with LRC, and Ann Rackas Pate has become a stalwart supporter with her donated materials. LRC continues compiling and digitizing material from the Displaced Persons era (1944-1952) in Western Europe.

LRC could not successfully operate without our dedicated volunteers. We extend our gratitude to them for their service and devotion. Three of them are above right: Kristina Vaičikonis, Dr. Ramunė Račkauskas and Algis Kazlauskas. Would you like to join them, even for a few hours a week? If so, please contact us at info@lithuanianresearch.org. We would love to speak with you!

Lithuanianresearch.org provides access to our library, periodical, manuscript and archive catalogs, along with latest news and books for sale! LRC worked for almost a year with its partners at EUSALINK, a digital marketing, web development and cybersecurity firm headed by CEO Artūras Žilys. They can be reached at eusalink.com.

Spauda.org is an LRC website that has digitized 83 periodical publications containing over 2 million pages! Dr. Jonas Daugirdas is the founder and director of the site, which has been recognized among the top five Lithuanian digital resources for researchers. One Ph.D. student at Vilnius University stated that she could not have written her master’s thesis without this resource. The Lithuanian Foundation has been a major underwriter of this project.

LRC is planning an addition to its Lemont campus. Some Lithuanian-American leaders and organizations will bequeath 20, 40, even 100 boxes of archival materials. The number of students, scholars and volunteers working at LRC continues to increase. We plan to construct a two-story 6,000 square foot addition on the north and west sides of the building. The addition will house collections, a workspace for researchers and a larger space for presentations to the community.

LRC is conducting a campaign for the approximately $1,000,000 needed for architectural work, permits, planning and construction. We are over one-third of the way to that goal.

While LRC seeks broad community support for this endeavor, every campaign depends upon benefactors making a larger investment. We will name the facility for any individual or organization who wishes to finance the entire $1 million cost of the project.

We respectfully request that you consider a major investment to help make our facility expansion a reality. Benefactors at this level will be memorialized in a permanent display in the facility ($100,000, $75,000, $50,000, $25,000). Thank you very much for your consideration.

LRC welcomed Vytautas Juozapaitis and his wife Eglė, accompanied by Saulius Jaškelevičius, minister-counsellor at the Consulate General of Lithuania. They visited our Chicago facility on May 6 and Lemont campus on May 8. Vytautas is a renowned opera soloist, television host and former member of Lithuania’s Parliament.

Vytautas, Eglė and Saulius are in the photo above left. Vytautas and Eglė are joined by Dr. Robertas Vitas, LRC Chairman of the Board, Antanas Rašymas, president of the Chicago Lithuanian Center, and Ramunė Lapas, editor-emerita of the Draugas newspaper, above right.

Joseph Frimel, who recently completed a master’s degree in geography and wrote his thesis on Chicago Lithuanians’ views of Eastern Europe, volunteered at LRC in May. Joe — as a geography graduate — was especially proud to hang antique maps of Lithuania donated by Dr. Audrius Plioplys, who maintains his archive here. LRC assisted Joe in his research.

Bishop Hansas Dumpys passed away in 2024. He was a prominent theologian who served as the Bishop of the Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Diaspora from 1991 to 2006. His family contacted LRC and offered his collection of books, documents, photos, vestments – even his bishop’s crozier. A truck delivered the materials on May 20. This is yet another reason why LRC is building a 6,000 square foot addition!

LRC again served as one of the sponsors of the annual commemoration of the life and death of Romas Kalanta on May 16 at Saint Casimir Cemetery. Kalanta was a 19-year-old student in Kaunas who killed himself by self-immolation in 1972 as a protest against the Soviet regime in Lithuania. His death provoked the largest riots in post-war Lithuania and inspired similar self-immolations.

May 16 was International Museum Day and an opportunity for the public to visit our museums at the Chicago facility: LRC Museum, LRC Medical Museum, and the LRC Military Museum.

LRC’s good friend Romas Jelinskas, videographer and editor, collected material on Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid. He prepared a documentary video for LCRA’s 65th anniversary. Romas also serves as Vice President for Information of the Lithuanian American Community, Inc. Above left, he is with LRC President & Chief Executive Officer Kristina Lapienytė and Director of Archives Dr. Indrė Antanaitis Jacobs.

LRC played a major role at the International Conference on Baltic Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on May 28-30. 400 participants from the US, Canada, and Europe attended.

Above left: LRC President Kristina Lapienytė speaks at the opening ceremony. Above right: Kristina is with conference organizers Joseph Lenkart and Olga Makarova of the University of Illinois, Dr. Regina Kvašytė of Vilnius University’s Šiauliai campus, and Latvia’s Ambassador to the US, Elita Kuzma.

Above left: LRC Chairman Dr. Robertas Vitas, LRC President Kristina Lapienytė. Joseph Frimel of Oklahoma State University, and Simona Jocevičiūtė of Kaunas University of Technology. Middle: Dr. Jonas Daugirdas, Director of LRC’s Spauda.org project, presenting on the work of digitizing émigré Lithuanian periodicals. Above right: LRC associate Dr. Vytis Čiubrinskas following his lecture.

Above left: LRC’s display. Above right: Robertas and Kristina present "The Year of the Displaced Persons as Commemorated by the Lithuanian Research Center". They were also responsible for thirty sessions as co-chairs of the Section on Migration, Diaspora and Diaspora Organizations.

Ieva Kristinaitytė, a Ph.D. student at Vilnius University, visited on May 26 to collect information for her research in philology. The Chair of Classical Philology is the oldest at the University and was begun in 1570, actually predating the establishment of the University by nine years!

LRC is happy to host other organizations on its campus. Lithuanian scout leaders gathered on June 13 to relax, catch-up and reminisce.

The Lithuanian World Center in Lemont hosts a charity golf outing every summer. Above left: LRC sponsors the golf carts as a way of spreading the word about our work. Middle: The outing also provided an opportunity for some fun for Arvydas Jarulis, Domas Rašymas, Chicago Lithuanian Center President Antanas Rašymas and LRC Chairman Robertas Vitas. Above right: Robertas and Antanas are joined by Chicago Lithuanian Center Board Member Jonas Žiūraitis.

Attorney Tony Mankus published his memoirs several years ago. They are now being translated into Lithuanian and will be published by LRC. LRC President & Chief Executive Officer Kristina Lapienytė is editing the volume. At left: Kristina and Tony consulting on the work.

We are delighted to introduce our newest volunteer, Inga Auškalnienė!

Inga (at left) first became acquainted with the LRC’s work while preparing an exhibition on the Lithuanian Opera. She joined us on June 27 and is currently helping to catalogue recently donated music archives.

We sincerely thank Inga for her time, expertise, and willingness to help LRC preserve our cultural heritage!

LRC hosted Dr. Mindaugas Klovas of the Lithuanian Institute of History in Vilnius on June 30 who lectured on the history of Vilnius reflected in primary sources not seen for centuries. The discussion afterward was also quite informative. Our thanks to the Lithuanian Foundation for sponsoring the event. We are also grateful to Dr. Linas & Rasa Sidrys for arranging Dr. Klovas’s visit.

Above left: Dr. Mindaugas Klovas and his audience. Above right: LRC Board Member Dr. Petras Kisielius contributes to the discussion.

Above left: Elona MacLeod chats with Dr. Klovas after the lecture. Middle: Dr. Linas Sidrys, Draugas correspondent Rimas Černius and LRC Volunteer Algis Kazlauskas. Above right: Dr. Linas Sidrys, Rasa Sidrys, Dr. Mindaugas Klovas.

Above left middle: LRC Archivist Gaile Vitas and Dr. Teresė Kazlauskas. Above right: Dr. Klovas speaks with LRC Archivist Laima Smilgytė, Paula Juzėnas and Kamilė Juzėnas prior to the lecture.

Lina Dusevičienė of Vilnius University visited LRC on July 8. Lina is a good friend of LRC and has met with our representatives in Vilnius, as well. Above left: Lina, LRC Chairman Robertas Vitas and LRC President Kristina Lapienytė. Above right: Lina presented keepsakes to our associates who have studied at Vilnius University. Kristina Vaičikonis (left) and Ramunė Kubilius (middle) attended Lithuanian language seminars there and Laima Smilgytė (right) is an alumna. Not pictured is Dr. Indre Antanaitis Jacobs who earned her Ph.D. at Vilnius University.

Above left on July 9: Nida Gaila delivers her father’s archives. Above right: Daina Buivys, LRC President Kristina Lapienytė and Nida. Juozas Gaila (1930–2023) was a Marine veteran, chemist, and active in the Lithuanian community, press and radio. Among other positions, Juozas was President of the Lithuanian American Community. He also served as representative of the Lithuanian World Community to Lithuania from 1993 to 1997. He was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas by the President of Lithuania in 2003. We are grateful to Nida for sharing her father’s legacy with us where his documents and photographs will serve as an important resource for researchers.

The 17th North American Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival at McCormick Place on July 12 brought thousands of Lithuanians from all over the world to Chicago. Visitors to the Festival had an opportunity to visit LRC’s Chicago facility on July 9 (below).

LRC exhibited at the Lithuanian Fair at the Marriott Marquis on July 10-12. We easily had 300 visitors discussing cultural preservation and specific materials they had in their possession. We are sorry to only be able to present a handful of photos from that exciting three-day event:

Above left: A portion of LRC’s exhibit of prior Lithuanian Folk Dance Festivals. Middle and right: Visitors came to chat and look at our information and books.

Above left: Saulius Jaškelevičius, Counsellor at the Consulate General, Consul General Regimantas Jablonskas, Ramutė Jablonskas, Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis, Rasa Varvuolis, LRC Chairman Robertas Vitas and LRC Archivist Gaile Vitas. Middle: Consul General Daiva Čekanauskas Navarrette from Los Angeles. At right: Dalia Henke, President of the Lithuanian World Community.

Above left: Robertas, LRC Archivist Laima Smilgytė, Consul General Ingrida Bublys from Cleveland, and Gaile. Middle: With long-time colleague Rasa Razgaitis. Above right: Lithuanian Foundation President Viktoras Kaufmanas and Audronė Ambrozaitis, daughter of the late Dr. Kazys Ambrozaitis who served as LRC Chairman of the Board.

Above left: Consul General Sandra Brikaitė of Los Angeles. Middle: Jūratė Mereckis, Executive Director of the Lithuanian Foundation. Above right: Documentarians Aistė & Ausgustinas Žemaitis and Jon Platakis, President of the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame.

Above left: Consul General Dovydas Špokauskas of New York. Middle: Dr. Marius & Dalia Naris. Above right: Virginija Petrauskienė, Editor of the Draugas newspaper. Draugas has been instrumental in disseminating information about LRC‘s activities.

Above left: Attorney Rimas Domanskis and Archbishop Lionginas Virbalas. Middle: With Mary Kriaučiūnas, a stalwart supporter of LRC’s mission. Above right: Antanas Dambriūnas, Chairman of the Board of the Lithuanian Alliance of America (LAA), and Elizabeth Dambriūnas. LAA (Susivienijimas lietuvių Amerikoje), founded in 1886 and headquartered in New York City, is the oldest continuosly operating Lithuanian organization in the world.

Above left: With Lithuania‘s Ambassador to the US Gediminas Varvuolis. Middle: Tadas Kubilius, Director of the Global Lithuania Department at Lithuania‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Above right: California Lithuanian Credit Union CEO Greg Brown and Gida Urbonienė, Director of Business and Community Growth.

Mark Golden (at left) is an old friend of LRC and visited on July 15. He has donated quite a bit of material from his family’s history. His family were members of the nobility in Lithuania, and the archive shines a light on that aspect of Lithuanian history.

Cecilia Hernandez Švobas, Lithuanian Consul General in Montevideo, Uruguay, visited LRC on July 15. She discussed Uruguayan-Lithuanian materials held at LRC with Archives Director Dr. Indrė Antanaitis Jacobs (above right). The Consul General extended an invitation to LRC to participate at the South American Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival in Berisso, Argentina on December 11, 2027.

This summer, Ella Barnett (above) from Grinnell College completed an internship at LRC. She gained hands-on experience in archival work, processing historical documents, and expanding her knowledge of the Lithuanian diaspora’s heritage.

LRC participated in the 112th Annual Convention of the Knights of Lithuania in Southbury, CT on July 31-August 2.

Middle: LRC Chairman Robertas Vitas with Historian and Attorney Dr. Darius Furmonavičius, who also serves as Lithuania‘s Consul in Nottingham, England. Above right: with documentarians Aistė and Augustinas Žemaitis.

Robertas had the sad honor of speaking at the final Mass celebrated at Saint Joseph Lithuanian Catholic Church on August 2. LRC partnered with Council 7 of the Knights of Lithuania to hold a pre-liturgical concert of the works of Alexander Alexis. He served as the church's music director from 1924 to 1974. His archives are housed in our Musicology Archive. Our thanks to Linda Žukauskas, President of Council 7 (above left in front of the Church) and Dennis Pultinas, Choirmaster (right photo in the middle of the choir) for their work.

Laurynas Misevičius, former president of ŠALFASS, the Lithuanian Athletic Union of North America (Šiaurės Amerikos lietuvių fizinio auklėjimo ir sporto sąjunga), now residing in Lithuania, is a long-term supporter of LRC‘s mission. Indeed, he donated a large ŠALFASS archive to us a decade ago. Laurynas always drops in when visiting the Chicago area. Here, he presents a book to LRC President Kristina Lapienytė.

The American Legion Don Varnas Post 986 is one of two Lithuanian-American veterans’ posts in the Chicago area. Post 986 considers LRC its home. The post hosts its various meetings and events here. The annual summer luncheon took place on August 23.

August 23 also saw the annual Baltic Way commemoration at LRC. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed by the Soviet Union and Germany on August 23, 1939. It divided European nations between those two countries. That date in 1989 saw 2 million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians joining hands across all three countries to remember that tragic event and to demand independence from the Soviet Union.

Runners began their journey this year at LRC’s Chicago facility and ended it at our Lemont campus, where speeches, food, and songs by Karolina & Linas Ivanauskas were offered. Many Baltic organizations sponsored the commemoration, and it was LRC’s honor to welcome our Latvian and Estonian friends.

Above right: Event Chair Regina Butkus, Lithuanian Consulate General official Jonas Alešiūnas, National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame President Jon Platakis, with Karolina & Linas Ivanauskas in the background.