Jonas Dainauskas (1904-2000) – historian,
professor, scholar. The J. Dainauskas Library and
Archives has been housed at the Lithuanian
Research and Studies Center for many years.
After the death of Jonas Dainauskas in 2000, his
family donated the rest of his books and historical
documentary materials to his eponymous library and
archives. Visiting librarians from the M. Mazvydas
National Library of Lithuania, Dalia Peciuliene and
Regina Svabauskaite, advised and assisted in the
final registration and cataloguing of the vast
inventory totaling over 12,000 books alone. By a
decision of the Board of Directors of the Lithuanian
Research and Studies Center, no part of the J.
Dainauskas Library and Archives will be
incorporated into any other archives or department, but will remain whole and in
tact as a separate division of the LRSC.
Each book in the library contains markers with J.
Dainauskas’ notes and comments. The library and
archives also houses his manuscripts and articles
dealing with Lithuanian history (many of which were
published), lecture notes, etc. Jonas Dainauskas was a
polyglot – in the archives we find articles in Lithuanian,
German, English, Hebrew, and Polish. Also in the library
– a vast collection of literature encompassing the period
of Lithuania’s occupation by the Soviets; it is probably
the largest of its kind in the United States.
The J. Dainauskas Library and Archives will soon include
a memorial study, a room in which the artifacts and
displays will serve as a monument to an accomplished Lithuanian historian and
scholar.
