Genealogy Department

The mission of the Genealogy Department is to collect, catalogue and preserve vital records and documents pertaining to the immigration history of Lithuanian Americans. The origins of this department, one of the Museum's most dynamic, can be traced to the vision of exceptionally talented volunteers and the energy of dedicated staff members working together to organize voluminous materials. Over the years, this core of devoted individuals took dispersed and remote information from a variety of sources and labored to make it all accessible. Scholars can now utilize these materials to research a number of fields: sociology, demography, and immigration. Most frequently, however, the resources gathered within the department are used by people researching their family histories. the resources include archives, death notice files, cross-indexed searches, ancestral town information, translations, and a host of other genealogical references. They are literally the tools of the genealogical trade. By combining these resources with the guidance of a capable and knowledgeable staff, hundreds of people have discovered the rewards of genealogy - exploring, connecting, appreciating, and identifying with a very personal past.