A Century of Lithuanians in Springfield, Illinois: Best of the Blog

With new material added Sept. 2016. Real-life stories and hundreds of images put a face on early twentieth-century immigrants in Lincoln's hometown, then part of the Midwest coal belt. Almost as soon as thousands of impoverished, rural Lithuanians poured into Central Illinois at the turn of the twentieth century, the coal-mining jobs for which they came began to dry up. This is their story of survival in the face of the Central Illinois "Mine Wars" and the Great Depression--and an immigrant dream deferred. It is also the story of a second wave of Lithuanian refugees these first-wave immigrants sponsored after World War II. Based on primary source interviews and newspaper and public records research. Written by a former journalist, with historical context for two distinct waves of Lithuanian immigration to the U.S. and continuing ties with the homeland as Lithuania experienced two world wars, two successful independence movements, an interwar period of statehood, and 50 years of Soviet occupation. An all-in-one primer, written in journalistic style, for anyone with Lithuanian roots or anyone interested in twentieth-century European immigration to the U.S. With professional page design. 328 pages, B&W.