Organizing the Lithuanian Alliance of America collection in New York, part of joint Lithuanian diaspora archive

Aim of the project
Organizing the documents of the collection of the Lithuanian Alliance in America (SLA), the oldest Lithuanian organisation in the USA, and making them available to the researchers. Involving the Lithuanian nationals residing in the USA in the process, thus encouraging their patriotism, public spirit, and Lithuanian education.

Tasks of the project
1. To systemize and describe the SLA documents and periodicals, to compile their lists, to prepare the documents for long-term storage, and to bring the prints to Lithuania.
2. To publish the information about the SLA documents stored in New York and document lists on the internet and include these in the information system of the electronic archive.
3. To share the professional experience in document organization of the employees of the Lithuanian Central State Archives and the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania to the volunteer Lithuanian nationals in the United States, who are and will be organizing the cultural heritage significant to Lithuania – movable cultural property and documents of Lithuanian diaspora organizations, thus contributing to their preservation and dissemination.

Project duration
May–November 2016

Project promoter
Lithuanian Central State Archives

Project partners
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Project coordinator within the NLL (unit, department)
Lithuanian Studies Unit of the Information Sciences Department

Project funding source, value (EUR)
The Lithuanian Council for Culture, project value: EUR 12,100

Introduction of the project
During the project, document heritage accumulated by SLA in its headquarters (activity records, periodicals, books, and other prints) will be classified into different groups together with Lithuanian nationals living in New York.
Content analysis of the published documents owned by SLA will be carried out. Activity records collected by SLA will be organized and described, placed into storage folders and boxes, and prepared for further storage. SLA intends to digitize the activity records in the future. The periodicals missing in the National Library (paper Tėvynė (Homeland)) will be selected and their copies brought to Lithuania.
Documents published by SLA will be selected and brought to the National Library: 100 sets of periodicals and 50 books.

Responsible person
Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė, Chief Supervisor, Researcher and Deputy Head of the Lithuanian Studies Unit of the Information Sciences Department, tel. (+370 5) 239 8637, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.