Lithuanian World Archives (LWA)

The Lithuanian World Archives constitute the LRSC’s largest department. The beginnings of the LWA might be considered 1946, when historical material began to be collected in Germany and sent to the Sisters of St. Casimir in Chicago. The archive later was transferred from the Sisters of St. Casimir to the Youth Center, which in 1957 was under the Jesuit Fathers’ care and newly built.

The LWA consists of

• Books;

• Periodicals;

• Manuscripts;

• Displaced Persons Collection, one of the largest in the world, containing documents, photographs and personal items;

• Archives of Individuals and Organizations, containing materials of community, political, and cultural activists, and material on the life of various organizations;

• Board of Education Collection;

• Cartography Collection, that contains over 50 more rare and about 100 more recent maps of Lithuania;

• Religious Literature and Missal Collection, which consists of books that were published and used by no longer active Lithuanian parishes.