List of Personal Collections/Fonds at the LMAC

Pranys Alšėnas-Ališauskas
Martynas and Valerija Anysas
Leopoldas Balsys
Tadas and Eva Bartkus
Evarestas Fedaras
Stasys Gailevičius
Elzė Jankutė
Stasys (Stanley) Jokubaitis
Adomas and Filomena Kantautas
Elzbieta Kardalienė
Petras and Irena Lukosevičius
Vitalius Matulaitis
Kazimieras Mileris
Antanas and Juzė Rinkūnas
Antanas and Birutė Sampson
Rev. Viktoras Skilandžiūnas
Jurgis Strazdas
Adolfas Šapoka
Antanas and Anastazija Tamošaitis
Aldona Užupienė-Lukienė
Vaclovas Verikaitis

List of Institutional Collections/Fonds at the LMAC

Lithuanian Canadian Community
Lithuanian Canadian Foundation
Lithuanian World Youth Association
Baltic Federation in Canada
Baltic Womens’ Council
Lithuanian Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
St. Casimir's Parish, Montreal
Our Lady Gates of Dawn Parish in Montreal
St. John's Parish, Toronto
Lithuanian Martyrs Parish, Mississauga
Resurrection Parish, Toronto
St. Casimir's Parish, Winnipeg
Toronto Lithuanian Youth Ensemble Gintaras
Atžalynas Folk Dance Ensemble, Toronto
Gyvataras Folk Dance Group, Hamilton
Volungė Lithuanian Choral Ensemble, Toronto
Aukuras Theatre Group, Hamilton
Lithuanian Folk Art Institute
Lithuanian heritage language programs, various cities
Parama Lithuanian Credit Union, Toronto
Litas Lithuanian Credit Union, Montreal
Vytis Sports Club, Toronto
Resurrection Parish Sports Club Aušra
Kovas Sports Club, Hamilton
Lithuanian newspaper Tėviškės Žiburiai
Lithuanian newspaper Nepriklausoma Lietuva
Lithuanian magazine Moteris
Lithuanian Community Centres, Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton
Vilnius Manor, Toronto

Your generosity and your heartfelt connection to your heritage has made our collection possible.

Our purpose is to collect, preserve and display material that reflects the entire continuum of the Lithuanian Canadian imprint and contribution to Canadian society. It begins in Lithuania in the late 19^th century when the first emigrants began leaving for Canada and moves toward the present day. Our special focus is to collect all available material prior to 1950 and historically significant material that relates to Lithuanian heritage activities in Canada after 1950.  

Current Collections Overview

The Lithuanian Museum-Archives of Canada (LMAC) collects and preserves historically significant archival materials (documentation, publications, correspondence, ephemera, video and audio recordings) which serve to illustrate or document the activities and history of Lithuanian Canadian individuals, organizations and institutions, as well as the broader Lithuanian community in Canada, with priority being given to materials associated with important events, periods, episodes and individuals. The first donation of such material was received from the estate of Elzė Jankutė, the daughter of Martynas Jankus (known as the Patriarch of Lithuania Minor). Some of the other individuals who themselves or whose families have donated material to the LMAC are listed below. Materials donated by individuals or their families include correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, diaries, travel and immigration documents, collections of articles written by and about various individuals and a wide assortment of mementos and heirlooms.

The LMAC also has many collections of materials from and about various Lithuanian Canadian organizations, associations, clubs, and ensembles, some of which are listed below. These collections include minutes of meetings, membership lists, by-laws, financial statements, commemorative publications, photographs, newspaper clippings, and a wide variety of other materials.

There is an extensive amount of archival material at the LMAC reflecting various events in which Lithuanian Canadians have participated. This includes such reccurring events such as the Lithuanian Canadian Days that have been held thirty-six times in various cities across Canada since 1953, fifteen Lithuanian Folk Dance and ten Song Festivals organized in North America since 1953, Lithuanian World Youth Congresses (fourteen) in various countries around the world since 1966, as well as multiple sports tournaments organized by LAUNA-ŠALFASS and others in Canada and the United States. There are also materials relating to various individual events such as the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the Christianization of Lithuania, the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Casimir, the original staging of the opera Dux Magnus as well as information about and programs from a multitude of other musical and theatrical performances, art exhibitions, lectures, commemorations (e.g., Lithuanian Independence Day), and the like.
In addition to archival materials, the LMAC also collects historically significant artifacts that illustrate or particularize the activities and history of Lithuanian Canadians and the Lithuanian community in Canada and have lasting and widely acknowledged value as Lithuanian cultural treasures with a focus on artifacts associated with important events, periods, episodes and individuals. Among the hundreds of artifacts that the LMAC has collected since before it opened are postage stamps and envelopes, banknotes and coins, paintings, lithographs, sculptures, folk art, hand crafts, jewellery (including many interesting amber pieces), slogan pins, lapel pins, military medals and uniforms, textiles and weavings, folk costumes, clothing (including a substantial collection of commemorative and slogan-bearing t-shirts), awards, trophies, maps, banners, posters and many others.

Even before the LMAC’s official opening, it amassed books, periodicals and other published materials, donated without guidelines for its library along with the archival materials and museum artifacts. The LMAC’s current collection of publications is used for reference purposes only. It consists of titles of any and all Lithuanian language material published in Canada or Lithuanian and English language material about Lithuanian Canadians published world-wide. The published materials (i.e., books, periodicals, commemorative publications) are divided into categories, according to year of publication and subject matter as follows:

- from 1850 to 1950 in Lithuania and Lithuania Minor;

- from 1850 in South America, Australia and elsewhere in Europe;

- from 1850 to 1950 in the United States;

- from 1930 to present in Canada;

- from 1950 to present in Lithuania (selected titles only);

- from 1950 to present in the United States (selected titles only);

- from 1940 to 1955 in Displaced Person (DP) Camps in Germany.