DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors consists of representatives of the organizations with the
largest inventories at the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center:
(Click underlined name to see biography in Lithuanian)
Vytautas Bieliauskas, Ph.D. – Chairman
(Representing the Lithuanian American Community, Inc.)
Honorary Consul Vaclovas Kleiza – Board Member
(Representing the Ambassador of Republic
of Lithuania to the United States)
Jonas A. Rackauskas, Ph.D., Litt.D. –
Board Member, ex officio, LRSC President
Rev. Antanas Grazulis, S.J. – Board
Member
(Representing the Jesuit Fathers of Della
Strada, Inc.)
Kazys Ambrozaitis, M.D. – Honorary
Chairman
(Representing the American Foundation for Lithuanian Research, Inc.)
Peter Buchas – Board Member
(Representing the Lithuanian American Council, Inc.)
Robertas Vitas, Ph.D. – Treasurer
(Representing the Lithuanian Catholic academy of Sciences, Inc.)
Stase Petersonas – Secretary
(Representing the Lithuanian Writer Society)
Algis Janusas – Board Member
(Representing the Lithuanian Institute for Fine Arts, Inc.)
Vacys Saulys, M.D. – Board Member
(Representing the Lithuanian American Medical Association, Inc.)
Faustas Strolia – Board Member
(Representing the Zilevicius-Kreivenas Musicology Archives Board of Trustees)
Vytautas Mikunas – Board Member
(Representing the Institute of Lithuanian Studies, Inc.)
Lilija Jasaite – Board Member
(Representing the Lithuanian American Community, Inc.)
LITHUANIAN RESEARCH AND STUDIES CENTER ADMINISTRATION
AND ASSOCIATES
Jonas Rackauskas, Ph.D., Litt.D. – President
Robertas Vitas, Ph.D. – Vice president
Skirmante Miglinas – Director of Archives
Danute Petrulis – Publications Editor, Director of Translation Services
Milda Budrys, M.D. – Director of Medical Museum and Archives
Augustinas Idzelis – President, American Research Center of Lithuanian Genocide
Petras Petrutis – Public Liaison, and Audio-Visual Department Head
Algis Janusas – Director of Fine Art Archives
Jonas Tamulaitis - Director of S. Budrys Photo Archives
Kristina Lapienyte-Bareikiene - Periodicals Department Head, Publications Editor
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LITHUANIAN RESEARCH AND STUDIES CENTER – A BRIEF HISTORY
The idea for the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center was born at the time A.
Kantautas began preparing a bibliography of Lithuanian publications in the
diaspora. He wrote to libraries, museums and archives in the United States, seeking
information on existing Lithuanian publications. The Director of the Lithuanian World
Archives at that time, Ceslovas Grincevicius, could not provide Mr. Kantautas with
any satisfactory information, however. This was because the
library and archives were not inventoried; everything was
in boxes and storage cabinets. At the time, the Lithuanian
World Archives had no funding or staff who could organize
the collections properly. This burden lay entirely on the
shoulders of C. Grincevicius, as he alone was collecting
and storing the archival materials.
When, in 1975, the monumental bibliography of Lithuanian
publications by A. Kantautas appeared, nowhere did it
mention the collections of the Lithuanian Wolrd Archives.
Prof. Jonas Rackauskas, together with a group of
colleagues created a plan to not only collect and preserve,
but to register and catalogue the holdings of the Lithuanian
World Archives, to make them accessible to researchers,
scholars, students, and the public alike.
The Zilevicius-Kreivenas Musicology Archives was in a similar state, in that there was
no financing, no staff, and a lack of space and supplies. There were no telephones,
copying machines or computers. The archives in question were, in fact, merely
warehouses for historical materials. The first volume of the A. Kantautas
bibliography, published in 1975 (725 pages), notes that no reply was received from
the Lithuanian World Archives while compiling the bibliography and that no
information was available. Only in 1979, in A. Kantautas’ revised bibliography were
the collections of the Lithuanian World Archives mentioned, because at that time the
staff and colleagues of the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, headed by
Jonas Rackauskas and Robertas Vitas, had already begun their work.
After finalizing the plan of operation in 1980, which was based upon the decision to
unifying various Lithuanian scholarly and education organizations under the umbrella
of one institution, the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center was founded in
1981. Among the founders were: Dr. Adolfas Damusis, the historian Jonas
Dainauskas, Director of the Lithuanian World Archives Ceslovas Grincevicius, Rev.
Vaclovas Gutauskas, S.J., Bronius Kviklys, Dr. Arunas Liulevicius, Dr. Jonas
Rackauskas, and Dr. Robertas Vitas.
The primary goal in founding the Lithuanian Research and
Studies Center was to collect documentary/archival material
reflecting Lithuanian culture, literature, history, etc., so that
it could be preserved, organized, and made accessible for
current research and for generations to come. Now, more
than twenty years after it was founded, the Lithuanian
Research and Studies Center prides itself on the vast
scope of productivity and the many various projects seen
to fruition.
The success of the Lithuanian Research and Studies
Center is due in no small part to the accomplished staff of
research associates, administrators and volunteers. At the
heart of the Center’s operations are two of its founders –
LRSC President Dr. Jonas Rackauskas and Vice-president
Robertas Vitas. The archives, headed by Director of
Archives Skirmante Miglinas, are ever-expanding thanks to continuous donations of
materials from Lithuanians around the world. Once the materials reach the Center,
they are sorted, registered, catalogued, and prepared for preservation. The M.
Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania generously provides the archives and
libraries at the Center with the latest publications and periodicals from Lithuania.
Currently, a Lithuanian Language specialist and research associate, Kristina
Lapienyte-Bareikiene, is finishing the Center’s latest publication, a catalogue of the
Lithuanian World Archives periodicals holdings (the inventory consists of collections
of some 2,300 periodical titles). Danute Petrulis, a linguist, is the Center’s
publications editor and director of translation services. Petras Petrutis volunteers as
the Center’s public liaison, preparing press releases and often coordinating research
inquiries with the staff. The Ricardas Printing and Graphics Studio is the Center’s
printer, and to date has printed most of the Center’s publications. Ricardas Spitrys,
the owner of the Studio, also provides computer technical support to the Center.
Visiting specialists from Lithuania assist in the
archives and libraries. The LRSC has several
on-going cooperation agreements with many
institutions in Lithuania: the M. Mazvydas
National Library of Lithuania, the Genocide
and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania,
the Department of Archives of the Republic of
Lithuania, and various universities, museums,
and other scholarly and cultural institutions,
whose visiting scholars and specialists often
advise and assist on projects at the LRSC. The
Lithuanian Research and Studies Center provides support to various institutions in
Lithuania by sending books and other printed matter, many of them titles and
publications that are difficult to acquire. To date, the Lithuanian Research and
Studies Center has sent nine shipping containers (approx. 405 tons) of books and
other printed materials to Lithuania.
Scholars from all parts of the United States and
around the world have visited the LRSC to do
research in the archives. The LRSC has hosted
visitors researching topics dealing with Lithuania
from Canada, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Denmark,
England and other countries. The LRSC prepares
informational articles on various aspects of Lithuania
and Lithuanians for encyclopedias, continually
striving to advance information on Lithuanian culture,
art, and scholarship. Many a doctoral candidate from
various universities in the United States has found specific data at the LRSC that he
or she had been seeking but was unable to find elsewhere.
The Lithuanian Research and Studies Center is supported by donations from the
public and grants from the Lithuanian Foundation, Inc., without which many projects
would go unrealized.
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