"Destination Lithuanian America"Saturday, July 8th, 2023
5:00-7:00 PM Free to the Public Augustinas Žemaitis and Aistė Žemaitienė have visited 750+ Lithuanian heritage sites in the USA and Canada. They mapped every Lithuanian church (including the closed ones), Lithuanian cemetery, Lithuanian monument, Lithuanian club, location named after Lithuanian(s), and more. They photographed and filmed these sites as well as recorded their stories as they were told to them by the local Lithuanian-Americans. Over the course of 6 years and 5 expeditions, they drove 25000 miles to achieve this goal and met more than 1000 people who safeguard the Lithuanian heritage in the Americas. |
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The results of all this work are freely available online, in both English and Lithuanian.
http://global.truelithuania.com is their encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage sites (covering 30 states and 40 countries)
http://map.truelithuania.com is their "Destination Lithuanian America" interactive map where every Lithuanian site of the USA and Canada is marked.
This year, Augustinas and Aistė come from Lithuania to the USA once again. They visit The Ethnic Heritage Museum to share the most interesting stories from their 5 years of quests to discover "Lithuania in America". They will not only speak but also show. The presentation will include more than 100 images of the prettiest Lithuanian sites in Americas (and far more than that).
http://global.truelithuania.com is their encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage sites (covering 30 states and 40 countries)
http://map.truelithuania.com is their "Destination Lithuanian America" interactive map where every Lithuanian site of the USA and Canada is marked.
This year, Augustinas and Aistė come from Lithuania to the USA once again. They visit The Ethnic Heritage Museum to share the most interesting stories from their 5 years of quests to discover "Lithuania in America". They will not only speak but also show. The presentation will include more than 100 images of the prettiest Lithuanian sites in Americas (and far more than that).
What is DESTINATION LITHUANIAN AMERICA?
written by: Augustinas Žemaitis
DESTINATION LITHUANIAN AMERICA aims to:
written by: Augustinas Žemaitis
DESTINATION LITHUANIAN AMERICA aims to:
- Encourage Lithuanians to learn about the Lithuanian-American heritage, add it to their travel itineraries. These days, the tourism to the foreign sites related to oneself and one's nation is gaining popularity worldwide. Unlike the Jews, Poles, Germans, and other ethnicities, however, Lithuanians know little about their heritage abroad so far as getting such information online is difficult.
- Encourage Lithuanian-Americans to learn about the Lithuanian heritage in the other cities, and add it to their travel itineraries. Unfortunately, we find that it is common that many Lithuanian-Americans know well only the Lithuanian heritage in their own regions. Even if the Lithuanian in other regions may interest them as well, often there is too little information.
- Encourage non-Lithuanian Americans to learn about the key Lithuanian-American heritage (that may be next door) and the importance of Lithuanian-Americans to American history, increasing the feelings of mutual understanding between the Lithuanian and American nations. Currently, as the new immigration from Lithuania is at its low, the Lithuanian-Americans are being replaced by other minorities in the public perception of what a minority is, decreasing media and researcher attention to them and to Lithuanians in general. This could hopefully be changed by the realization of the amount of Lithuanian-American heritage and the importance America had to Lithuania, and these Lithuanians had to America.
- Take pictures of the Lithuanian heritage in America before some of it will, unfortunately, be destroyed. Much of the Lithuanian-American heritage is in peril, with several Lithuanian churches literally torn down every year (and their number has been already reduced by an order of magnitude). Much of Lithuanian heritage is destroyed without even any of their images being publically available online.
- Encourage protection of the Lithuanian-American heritage through the increased public interest in such heritage. It is usually easier to protect heritage when it has garnered tourist, researcher, and other interest.
