How Lithuanian-Americans reacted to and presented events in Lithuania from 1987 to 1992

When in 1987 the political atmosphere in Lithuania began to heat up with the appearance, in public, of the Lithuanian Freedom League and the Lithuanian Perestroika Movement (Sąjūdis), the Lithuanian diaspora community kept its eyes on events in Lithuania and responded accordingly. A number of community institutions either stepped up their activities or got ready to do so. In New York, Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid, Inc., set up the Lithuanian Information Center (LIC ) and opened an office in Washington, D. C. The Lithuanian-American Community established a Public Affairs Council. After independence was regained the information flow increased; and in response to the growing demand for it, a Lithuanian Hotline was set up in Chicago for providing continuous and constantly updated information on developments in Lithuania. Belonging to separate institutions, the LIC and the Public Affairs Council pursued different objectives. The LIC in New York and Washington worked with U. S. and world media to disseminate information; the office of the Public Affairs Council worked directly with political institutions and politicians; but though they had distinct missions the activities of these different offices often reinforced each other and were part of a common endeavor. This paper analyzes the activities that Lithuanian-American community organizations engaged in from 1987 to 1992 as they presented and explained political events happening in Lithuania to media, politicians, and government organizations operating in the United States. How were these activities organized and how did the relevant organizations seek to implement their goals? To what extent did they coordinate among themselves their strategies of action and the decisions they took? These are some of the questions the paper tries to shed light on. [...]Istorijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta