The origins of the Lithuanian press as an especially important means of communication among the members of the Lithuanian diaspora date back to the 19th century. Historical events related to Lithuania’s political situation, i.e., occupations and the establishment and consolidation of the country’s independence, played a significant role in the formation and development of the Lithuanian press in a foreign language. The first attempts to familiarize Americans with the situation of Lithuania and its people in the Russian Empire, and therefore to shape public opinion in order to contribute to the homeland’s national revival and liberation movement, took place in the early 20th century. The political events of the mid-20th century encouraged Lithuanian immigrants to rally their support for the restoration of the independence of the state. The English-language cultural press, most of which was published in the USA, constitute the majority of the second half of the 20th century Lithuanian diaspora press body. These include the publications by the publishing houses, Manyland Books and Lithuanian Library Press, and a quarterly journal, Lituanus. The initiatives by the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, Lithuanian Encyclopedia and other publishers are also worth of mentioning. National identity based on the state, community and its members, and common values and traditions, was the unifying feature of the English-language Lithuanian cultural press. The historical narrative, as one of the most important and decisive representations of national identity, stood out in all publications. This article examines how different publishers, using genre diversity of texts and a broad spectrum of historic topics, were able to create an identity construct of the individual and the country. The article also looks into the general features of content dissemination in the USA, Western Europe and Australia.

This article discusses the activities of the famous Camp Dainava, founded in 1955 by the Lithuanian-American Catholic Federation. The Dainava youth camp, along with others organized by Lithuanian emigres in the U.S., was an integral part of Catholic pedagogical activities, carried out for the purposes of fostering love of one’s parents’ native land and of religious education. Using material about this camp published in different sources, the author analyzes ac tivities of the camp as part of general Lithuanian emigre education. The article discusses principles of camp organization, problems of youth education and its contents, and Camp Dainava’s importance in relation to the whole Lithuanian pedagogical process in exile. The analysis is limited to the period from 1955 to 1990.

This article about the Manyland Books publishing house founded by Stepas Zobarskas in New York in 1962 evaluates its activities from a standpoint related to the promotion of the expressive signs of the Lithuanian identity. After reviewing efforts by earlier publishers and individuals to present translations of fiction, art, historical, and other works by Lithuanian authors, as well as their publications in other languages; evaluating the outcome of the activities by Manyland Books from the quantitative and genre points of view; and getting acquainted with the publisher’s advertising campaign and the geography of distribution of publications, I conclude that the efforts made by Zobarskas and their results present the most serious, best-organized, and most successful attempt at promoting phenomena of Lithuanian culture. In researching this article I made use of the collection of Manyland Books publications held by the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania; the Stepas Zobarskas and Manyland Books collection at the Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum; sound recordings of Zobarskas’s interviews preserved at the Department of Audiovisual Documents of the Lithuanian State Archives; and numerous publications in the Lithuanian diaspora press presenting assessments of the publishing house’s activities and reviews of its output.