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THE LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY VOLUME 70:3 (2024)
LIT U ANU S THE LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY Vol. 70:3 (2024)
Dalia Leinartė and Irma Dirsytė
BEING SINGLE: HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION
IN MID-NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITHUANIA
Liutauras Nekrošius
ARCHITECTURE OF LITHUANIAN-AMERICAN
CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS
Stasys Samalavičius
STOVES AND FIREPLACES IN THE HOUSES OF VILNIUS’
BURGHERS IN THE SEVENTEENTH–EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES
Mike Stumbras
ART
Saulius Vasiliauskas
NOVELS
Kerry Shawn Keys
A SELECTION OF POEMS FROM SEASONS AT THE PATCH
THE LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
VOLUME 70:3, Fall 2024
Editor: ALMANTAS SAMALAVIČIUS, Vilnius University
Associate Editor: DAIVA LITVINSKAITĖ, Vilnius University
Managing Editor: INA STANKEVIČIENĖ
Copy Editor: KERRY SHAWN KEYS
Art Editor: RIMAS VISGIRDA
Technical Editor: SAULIUS JUOZAPAITIS
Advisory Board: DALIA CIDZIKAITĖ, National Library of Lithuania
PIETRO U. DINI, Pisa University
PATRICK CHURA, University of Akron
KĘSTUTIS GIRNIUS, Vilnius University
REDA GRIŠKAITĖ, Lithuanian Institute of History
VIOLETA KELERTAS, University of Washington
NERINGA KLUMBYTĖ, Miami University, Ohio
DAIVA MARKELIS, Eastern Illinois University
GRAŽINA PRANAUSKAS, University of Melbourne
DONATELLA SCATENA, Sapienza University Rome
GIEDRIUS SUBAČIUS, University of Illinois at Chicago
SAULIUS SUŽIEDĖLIS, Millersville University
PETERIS VANAGS, Stockholm University
KĘSTUTIS PAUL ŽYGAS, Arizona State University
Lituanus: The Lithuanian Quarterly (published since 1954) is a multi-disciplinary academic
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(EBSCO); Linguistic Bibliography (Netherlands); Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts;
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature; Bibliography of the History of Art; OCLC Article First.
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Co n ten t s
ȱ7ȱ
ȱȱ7 5
Being Single: Household
Composition in Mid-Nine-
teenth-Century Lithuania
LIUTAURAS NEKROŠIUS 26
Architecture of Lithuanian-
American Catholic Parochial
Schools
ȱ+ 49
Stoves and Fireplaces
in the Houses of Vilnius’
Burghers in the Seventeenth–
Eighteenth Centuries
MIKE STUMBRAS 63 Art
SAULIUS VASILIAUSKAS 70 Novels
KERRY SHAWN KEYS 78 A selection of poems from
Seasons At The Patch
BOOK REVIEWS
83
ABSTRACTS
95
26
Architecture of Lithuanian-American
Catholic Parochial Schools
LIUTAURAS NEKROŠIUS
Introduction
The first Catholic parochial school in the USA was established
as early as the mid-eighteenth century in Philadelphia, while
general Catholic education peaked in the 1960s, when more than
4.5 million schoolchildren were taught in Catholic schools. This
represented 12 percent of the total number of elementary school
pupils in the USA.1 Although a few dozen Lithuanian Catholic
parochial schools with a few thousand pupils made up just a
tiny part of this phenomenon, it is believed that a case study
may reveal general valuable characteristics common to the Amer-
ican Catholic architectural heritage. The results of this study are
expected to be of relevance to the researchers of other ethnic
groups and Catholic heritage, as most of these groups have gone
through similar periods of development.
The researchers of the Lithuanian diaspora have focused
heavily on the history of personalities, organizations and insti-
tutions, professional and folk art and music; however, the re-
search into the architectural heritage is still fragmentary. Ar-
chitecture is the focus of attention in representative publica-
1 Walch, Parish School, 1.
Dr. LIUTAURAS NEKROŠIUS is an architect and architectural re-
searcher. He served as the Dean of Architecture School at Vilnius Ged-
iminas Technical University until recently.
27
tions.2 For the visual appeal and artistic value, the focus is on
the church buildings erected in the mid-twentieth century (Rich-
ardson 2018).3 The fact that they were designed by well-known
architects who arrived in the post-war period also contributes
to the interest in these buildings.
The architecture of earlier designed church-schools is less
expressive, it is rarely known who designed these buildings, and
their known authors are of non-Lithuanian ancestry. Therefore,
this group of buildings often remains undervalued, despite their
exceptional cultural and historical value. Research is hampered
by the lack of primary knowledge about their architecture. Some
information about the financial resources that were accumulated
by parishes for the construction of schools, the correspondence
with the diocese, and other fragmentary knowledge has survived
in the archives of the Archdiocese of Chicago. The archives of
the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center in Lemont, Illinois,
contain photographs, brochures, and other information relevant
ȱȱ¢ǯȱȱȂȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱ
sponsored by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. Valuable, al-
beit fragmentary information about school buildings is provided
in publications commemorating the anniversaries of the found-
ing of parishes, Catholic Church directories4 and albums5 of a
general character, the Lithuanian-American press of the time. Of
particular value is the Compendium of 150 Lithuanian Catholic
parishes and institutions in the USA.6 The study on later Lithu-
anian weekend schools in North America provides important
information about the subject under investigation.7 While they
represent a different type of school and education, they often
2 Lukas, āȱĀȱȱǯ
3 Richardson, “The nexus between Lithuanian vernacular and American mod-
ernism.”
4 Koenig, A History of the Parishes.
5 Kantowicz and Trenor, The Archdiocese of Chicago.
6 ȱȬ²ǰȱLithuanian Religious Life.
7 ȱȱ½ǰȱLietuviškasis švietimas.
28
used the spaces of still existing or former parochial schools. Sev-
eral important historical studies on Catholic education in the
USA were published in the second half of the twentieth centu-
ry.8 These publications provide information about the phenom-
enon of Catholic education and parochial schools, the features
of their development, their statistics, personalities, and learning
content. Monographs on the research of the Lithuanian diaspo-
ra,9 as well as the online encyclopedia, global.truelithuania.com,
which identifies Lithuanian sites in the world, are a significant
source of knowledge for identifying schools. A series of pho-
tographs taken by Jonas A. Kubilius in the interwar period,
Lithuanian-Americansȱǻȱȱ ȱǯǯȱ +ȱ ȱ
Museum and the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center in
Lemont, Illinois) provides valuable information on the appear-
ance of school buildings.
All the sources mentioned above do not deal with the spatial
qualities of the learning environment, and if they do, they only
do so in a fragmentary way.
The aim of this study is to draw attention to the cultural
value of the architecture of Lithuanian-American Roman Cath-
olic parochial schools in the USA and to broaden the understand-
ing of the diaspora heritage. Only in the USA was there such a
wide network of Lithuanian elementary schools. As an integral
part of the Catholic education system, they existed for about a
century. The present publication does not deal with individual,
yet also culturally very important high school buildings. Lithu-
anian weekend schools that proliferated in the USA and Canada
after World War Two are mentioned here insofar as they are
related to the buildings of elementary schools. Both of these types
of educational spaces deserve separate presentations due to their
specificity.
8 Sanders, The Education of Urban Minority; Walch, Parish School.
9 Ā½ǰȱȱ ā; Fainhaus, LithuaniansDzȱi½ǰȱāȱ
½.
29
Prerequisites and Dynamics of the Formation
of the Network of Lithuanian Schools in the USA
The earliest knowledge of mass migration of Lithuanians to what
is now the US territory dates back to 1852,10 when Lithuanian
Lutherans from Lithuania Minor arrived in Texas with a wave
of German migrants. The beginning of mass migration of Lith-
uanians of Lithuania Proper from the Russian Empire is consid-
ered to be the year 1868. Research by historian Alfonsas Eidintas11
reveals that even though the Lithuanians accounted for just 1.3
percent, or 1.6 million of the population of the Russian Empire,
it is estimated that one in ten migrants from the Empire was
Lithuanian (the majority of them migrated illegally). Between
1899, when the Lithuanian nationality was included in the US
migration statistics, and 1914, more than 253 thousand Lithuanian
immigrants were counted (i.e., over 15 percent of the total of
Lithuanians who lived in Russia at that time). 90 percent of all
ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȱȱŗśȮŚŚǰȱȱ
than half of them were illiterate, and two-thirds of them were
men. According to the census of 1930, 439 thousand US residents
considered themselves Lithuanians.
The passing of the so-called Johnson-Reed immigration law
in 1924 made it possible for no more than 2 percent of an ethnic
group that was already living in the USA to immigrate to the
USA annually. As a result, most of migrating Lithuanians had
to choose other countries. After 1953, about 30 thousand more
Lithuanian war refugees immigrated to the USA from the Dis-
ȱȂȱǻǼȱȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱȱ ŗşŞŖǰȱŝŚŘǰŝŝŜȱ ȱ
residents declared their Lithuanian ancestry.12
The first Lithuanian parish in the USA was that of St. Casimir,
established in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1872.13 The Third
10 +ǰȱPirmieji lietuviai Teksase.
11 Eidintas, ȱȱ½ȱñ¢½ǰȱŗŜǰȱŘŗǰȱřŜǰȱśřȮśŝǰȱŝřǰȱŘŞŘǯ
12 ȱȱǰȱȃāȱȱāȱǰȄȱŞŗŞǰȱŞŘŗǯ
13 ²ǰȱShenandoah, 22.
30
Seimas of the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Association that took
place in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, in 1888 encouraged the
establishment of parochial schools.14 It is believed that in the
same year, in the same city, one of the first Lithuanian parochi-
al schools in the USA, with 40 pupils, was established in the
ȱȱǯȱ Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȱȱ-
tion.15ȱȱȱȱ¢ǰȱȱȱȱȱ-
tablished a Lithuanian school in Pulaski, Wisconsin, as well. In
ŗŞşřǰȱȱȱȱ ȱȱȱ ǯȱ Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, whose construction started in 1891
(it was demolished in 2010), with 70 pupils, followed by an eve-
ning school for young people a year later.16
In 1907, there were 41 Lithuanian parishes in the USA, of
which, according to different sources, 8 to 12 had schools, in
ŗşŗřȱȮȱşŖȱȱȱŘŚȮŘśȱǰȱȱŗşŗŜȱȮȱŗŖŘȱȱȱ
ŘŘȱ ȱ Řŝȱ ǰȱ ȱ ŗşŗŞȱ Ȯȱ Řśȱ ȱ ȱ ŜǰŞřşȱ ȱ ȱ
129 teachers working.17 Later on, the number of Lithuanian par-
ishes established on the national basis began to decrease due to
assimilation, internal migration within the country, re-migration
to Lithuania after the restoration of Lithuanian statehood, as well
as due to the immigration quotas introduced in the USA and the
breakout of a global economic crisis in 1929. However, the num-
ȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȮȱ ȱřşȱȱ
ŞŞȱȱȱŗşřřǯȱȱŗşřŞǰȱȱȱȱȱȱȮȱ
to 34, with 450 teachers working and 14 thousand pupils learn-
ing in them. The network of parochial schools was exceptional-
ly developed in the Archdiocese of Chicago, with 268 schools
operating in 283 parishes in 1965.18 In the twentieth century,
15 Lithuanian Catholic parishes were active in the Archdiocese
of Chicago and all of them had schools in them.19
14 Ā½ǰȱȱā, 72.
15 ǰȱLietuviai AmerikojǰȱŚŜȮŚŝǯ
16 ²ǰȱShenandoah, 36, 108.
17 Eidintas, Lietuva ȱ½ȱñ¢½ǰȱŗŗŖȮŗŗŘDzȱȃi½ȱȱ āǰȄȱ
1938.
18 Sanders, The Education of Urban Minority, 4.
19 ȱȱ½ǰȱLietuviškasis švietimas, 15.
31
The need for schools had been hotly debated by communities.
Families were encouraged to choose Catholic education due to
the strong Protestant influence on secular education.20 While
there was no doubt that national schools helped to preserve eth-
nic identity, there was concern that the economic well-being of
the pupils might be adversely affected by their slower integration
into American society than those with an education in English.21
The Lithuanian language skills of US-born teachers were also
questioned. There was a debate in 1909 about whether it was
worthwhile establishing Lithuanian secular schools,22 and by the
ŗşŘŖȮřŖǰȱ ȱ ȱȱȱȃȱȱ ȱȄȱǻAteities
ċ) Lithuanian secular schools was already in operation in
the USA, with 30 schools operating in 1919 and 72 schools in
1935, each of which might have had up to a few dozen pupils.23
However, having linked education with religion, a sustainable
symbiotic relationship seemed to had been created. Diocesan
guarantees allowed communities to borrow funds for construc-
ǰȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȂȱȱȱ
for teachers. In Catholic schools, pupils received religious edu-
cation in addition to compulsory public curriculum, and in na-
tional schools, they also received education in their mother
tongue, literature, history and folklore. The Catholic Church was
the largest non-state provider of education in the US, so an ef-
ficient education quality management system was put in place,
involving a public education inspector, a diocesan superinten-
dent, a representative of the monastic community, the head of
the school, and the rector in the supervision process.24 Moreover,
given the social portrait of immigrants, it is important that the
Church acted as a cultural educator, and as often as not early
parishes provided adult literacy and English language courses
after the daytime education of children. With the growth of the
20 Walch, Parish School, 2.
21 Ā½ǰȱȱā, 33.
22 ȃȱǰȄȱŗŖŚDzȱ²½ǰȱȃȱñǯȄ
23 MELI, 575.
24 Koncius, iǯȱ£ȱāȱ, 203.
32
US-born generation of Lithuanians, the extent of the influence
of local culture came to be realized.25 As Lithuanians increasing-
ly chose English-language schools, Lithuanian social organiza-
tions began to establish Lithuanian-language weekend schools.
Such schools increased in number after World War Two in par-
ticular. Between 1949 and 1999, more than 70 of them operated
at different times.26 They were often located in parish schools
and community centers.
Nuns-Teachers
At the turn of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries, there were
around 40 thousand nuns in different congregations in the USA
and a large number of them were involved in the educational
processes of parochial schools.27 In 1895, Lithuanian Catholic
priests gathered in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, and decided to es-
tablish a Lithuanian convent for the education of children. In
1897, Lithuanian women began to join the Polish convent of the
Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In that same year, they
began teaching at Saint George School in Chicago, Illinois, and
later at Lithuanian schools in eight more cities. When reaching
an agreement on the establishment of a Lithuanian Nazarene
convent failed, many Lithuanians transferred to the Order of St.
ȱǻǼȱȱŗşŘřǰȱȱȱŗşŘśȮŗşŘŞȱ¢ȱȱȱ-
uanian St. Francis Convent in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It curat-
ed five schools in the USA, one school in Brazil, and founded an
academy in 1931.28
ȱȱ ȱ Ȃȱȱ ȱȱ ŗşŖŗȱ ȱ£ȱ
services and religious instruction in English, a convention of
Lithuanian priests in 1903 in Pittsburgh passed a resolution to
25 Herzog, “Our Sacred Lithuanian Word,” 144.
26 ȱȱ½ǰȱLietuviškasis švietimas, 71; Dautaras, Lituanistin-
io ugdymo, 2005.
27 Walch, Parish Schools, 134.
28 ȱȱǯȱǰȱŗşȮŚřǯ
33
¡ȱȂȱȱȱǯȱȱȱȱȱ
Sisters of Saint Casimir was founded in 1907 in Mount Carmel,
Pennsylvania on the initiative of the priests for the specific pur-
pose to implement Catholic education (in 1911 it moved to Chi-
cago, and since 1920 it has also been active in Lithuania). US
ȱȱȱ¢ȬȱȱȱȱȱȂȱȱ
schools. In 1911, they founded St. Casimir Academy in Chicago,
ȱǻȱŗşśŘȱȱȱǰȱȱŘŖŗŘȱȮȱ¢ȱ-
ria HS), and Villa Joseph Maria Academy in Holland, Pennsyl-
vania in 1932.29
The need for teachers was greater than the Sisters of St. Ca-
simir and Franciscans could offer. Therefore, the Congregation
of the Sisters of the Crucified Jesus and the Poor Sisters of the
Sorrowful Mother became involved in education. The main ac-
tivity of the monastic nunnery, founded by Lithuanians in Scran-
ton, Pennsylvania in 1924, was the nursing of the elderly and
orphans. The Sisters took charge of five Lithuanian parochial
schools and six kindergartens, and taught catechism classes in
eight other Lithuanian parishes.30
Priests, unable to find any Lithuanians, would invite nuns of
other nationalities. However, even in such a situation, the pos-
sible encouragement of assimilation was guarded against. A
priest in Waterbury, Connecticut invited French nuns from the
Order of the Holy Spirit, hoping that they would “not be con-
cerned with irishifying children.”31 Other monastic communities
were also active in other levels and forms of education. Marian
Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin
Mary, who arrived from Lithuania in 1913, supervised some of
the parishes that had schools (i.e., were part of the quality as-
surance system) and from 1926 trained priests for Lithuanian
parishes at Marian Hills College in Hinsdale, Illinois, and later
at Marianapolis Seminary in Thompson, Connecticut. Sisters of
29 Koncius, iǯȱ£ȱāȱǰȱŘŗŝǰȱŘřŝȮŘśŖǰȱŘşşǯ
30 ċ½ǰȱ½£ȱ¢ċǰȱŜŗǰȱŗŚŗȮŗŚŜǯ
31 Vaidelotas, Švento Juozapo, 10.
34
the Immaculate Conception who arrived in the USA in 1938 at
the invitation of the Marians, ran summer camps for children
from 1957. Another group of the congregation, who arrived in
Canada as war refugees in 1948, undertook preschool education
and from 1956 taught at Lithuanian weekend schools.32 Lithua-
nian Jesuits who came to the USA in 1933 established the Youth
Center in Chicago in 1956, which brought together institutions
important to Lithuanian Studies, including the Pedagogical In-
stitute, a weekend school, an archive, and a gallery. The Order
ȱȱȱǻǼȱȱȱǯȱ¢Ȃȱȱ
ȱȱ¢ȱȱǰȱǰȱȱŗşśŜȮŜşǯ33
Architectural Expression of Schools
Lithuanian Roman Catholic parochial schools began to be estab-
lished in the USA at the end of the nineteenth century. They
were often located in church basements, annexes or parish-owned
or rented premises used for other purposes. Specialized educa-
tional environments began to be created systematically in the
early twentieth century. The characteristic building of the
ŗşŖŖȮřŖȱȱȱȬȱȬȱǯȱȱȱ-
es, these were metal-framed, ceramic brick-walled buildings of
a compact rectangular volume and with a sloping gable roof,
two, sometimes three stories high, with the church, school, and
sometimes community hall spaces on different levels. An exam-
ple of this early type of building is the Providence Parish build-
ing in Chicago,34 built in 1901 (used for education until 2023).
Knowledge of the original use of the interior spaces in such
buildings is very fragmentary. When the Holy Cross Parish in
Chicago built a church-school in 1905 (architect John S. Flizikow-
ski; rebuilt in 1963), the school moved into four classrooms on
32 ½ǰȱ½ȱ.
33 ȱȱ½ǰȱLietuviškasis švietimas.
34 Koenig, A History of the Parishes, 820.
35
the first floor. In the first school year, 160 children were enrolled
in these classrooms, and two more rooms were furnished adjacent
to the classrooms to house the Nazarene Sisters who taught there
(later adapted for education). The church was located on the
second floor. After ten years, the number of pupils already ex-
ceeded 800. Therefore, a separate church was built between 1913
and 1915 (architect Joseph Molitor), and six classrooms and two
Ȃȱȱȱȱȱȱ¢ȱȱȱ¢ȱ
1919.35 The Nazarene teachers were replaced with Casimirite
ones in 1925. In 1909, the complex was supplemented with a
rectory (architect John S. Flizikowski) and in 1953 with a convent
and a chapel (architect Jonas Kova-Kovalskis). This Lithuanian
parish center, one of the most developed as a complex, is still
used by the Spanish-speaking community for its original purpose.
Buildings with a school on the first floor and a church on the
second were also constructed in St. George Parish (1910, Roch-
ester, the state of New York), St. Francis Parish (1913, East Chi-
ǰȱȱ ȱ ȱ Ǽǰȱ ǯȱ¢Ȃȱ ȱǻŗşŘŖǰȱ ǰȱ
the state of Michigan), and St. George Parish (1920, Philadelphia,
the state of Pennsylvania).
In order to make rational use of the available buildings, halls
for community events were also furnished. The St. George Parish
building in Cleveland, Ohio (Fig. 1), built in 1921, had a school
on the first floor, a church on the second floor, and a communi-
ty hall on the basement level.36
For Lithuanians in their home country, it was common to see
Catholic churches as the tallest in the city, with only the sky above
them. Therefore, the architectural solution of locating the school
above the church, which is widespread in the USA, must have
seemed unusual to immigrants. One of the more striking examples
of this is the Our Lady of Vilna Parish building erected in 1906 in
Chicago. Its first floor is devoted to sacral use. On the second
floor, a school run by the Casimirites began to operate in 1908
in four classrooms with 24 pupils. By 1920, it already had 439
35 Linkus, iǯȱ¢ċȱā, 40.
36 Kijauskas, Dievo motinos, 17.
36
pupils.37 A school was also built above Ss. Peter and Paul Church
in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania (built in 1911, demolished in 1975;
Fig. 2), All Saints Church (built in 1908, demolished after 1970)
and Ss. Peter and Paul Church (1914), the latter two in Chicago.
Two schools of exceptional architecture were built in the
ŗşŗŖDZȱ ȱȱȱȱ ȱ ȱȱ ȱ ȱ
Mary in Chicago and that of St. Anthony in Cicero, Illinois. Un-
like the schools mentioned above, both were constructed phase
by phase. Having built the first floor, it housed both a church
and a school. They began to operate. Later, as both parishes
expanded, second floors were added to the buildings. In St. An-
37 Koenig, A History of the Parishes, 744; Our Lady of Vilna Parish, 22.
Fig. 1. The St. George Parish building in Cleveland, Ohio, 1921: a school on the
first floor, a church on the second floor, and a community hall at the basement
level. ȱ¢ȱȱȱǻ¢ȱǯǯȱ+ȱȱȱ
of Art, Kaunas)
37
¢Ȃȱǰȱȱȱȱȱȱ ǻǯȱ řǼȱ ȱȱȱ
the first floor in 1911, and a second floor was added in 1919.
After building a new church in 1925, its premises were handed
over to the school, with already 500 pupils enrolled.38 The de-
38 Koenig, A History of the ParishesǰȱŗŖşŚȮŗŖşŞǯ
Fig. 2. Combined Ss. Peter and Paul Church/School in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania,
built in 1911, demolished in 1975: the school is above the church. Photo by Jonas
ȱǻ¢ȱǯǯȱ+ȱȱȱȱǰȱǼ
38
velopment process in the Immaculate Conception Parish took
longer. Its building constructed in 1915 housed a church and two
classrooms. Nazarene Sisters began to teach 100 children there.
After adding the second floor to the school in 1920, the number
of pupils grew to 500 in 1922, the Casimirites took over the teach-
ing, and by 1953 there were already 700 pupils in the school. In
1951, the school started to run a Lithuanian language school on
weekends. Due to this new activity, the school was expanded by
adding seven more classes. In 1966, a new church was consecrat-
ed and its former premises were handed over to the school.39
39 Daulys and Weir, Immaculate Conception ChurchǰȱŗŜȮŗşǯ
Fig. 3. The St. Anthony Church/parochial school building in Chicago, Illinois. The
first floor was built in 1911, the second floor in 1919. After erecting a new
church in 1925 (its tower can be seen on the right-hand side of the photo),
ȱǯȱ¢ȱȂȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ-
ǯȱȱ¢ȱȱȱǻ¢ȱǯȱǯȱ+ȱȱȱ
of Art, Kaunas)
39
Both these schools are still used for their original purpose by the
Spanish-speaking local communities.
Parish complexes were developed in phases, taking into ac-
count the demographic and social dynamics of the parish, its
economic capacity, and its success in raising donations and ob-
taining diocesan guarantees for loans. Because of this system of
financing, it was joked that by the time Lithuanians built a
church, they had become true Americans. Lack of funds led to
schools often having fewer premises than there were grades. For
example, after building the All Saints Parish building in Chicago
in 1908, six premises were furnished above the church. Since
pupils had eight years of schooling, it was necessary to combine
classes. When the number of pupils reached 350, the teachers
sometimes had to work with sixty at a time. In 1949, a Saturday
school with up to 30 pupils started operating on the premises
on weekends.40
ȱŗşŗŞȱȱ¢ǰȱǰȱȱȱǯȱȂȱȱǰȱ
the church was erected on the second floor and the community
hall on the first floor. When the need arose for a school, a new
church was built in 1927, and its previously used space was
adapted for school purposes. In 1928, a school run by the Casi-
mirites was opened here, with 115 pupils (St. Casimir Parish
1966). In St. Joseph Parish in Waterbury, Connecticut, the school
was originally housed in the rectory. After erecting a new church
in 1905, the old church was converted into a school.41
One of the most stylistically expressive parochial schools is the
Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary School in Chicago (1926, ar-
ȱȱǼǯȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ-
nal composition of spaces. Parallel to the street, the three-story
volume of the school clearly dominates the composition of the
building, while the volume of the church with a community hall
in the basement, which is perpendicular to it on the north side, is
oriented towards the interior of the site. The educational, sacral
40 Abelkis, āȱiāāȱǰȱŜśȮŝŞǯ
41 Vaidelotas, Švento Juozapo, 8.
40
and recreational functions are usually carried out at different
times, so it is practical that they share a common foyer and engi-
neering infrastructure. After the construction of a new church in
1957 (architect Jonas Mulokas), the space of the former church was
adapted to the needs of the school, initially with two large class-
rooms that were later replaced with a gym. In 1945, a contextual
three-story extension was built in the southern part of the church,
which underwent repair in 1964. The building is still owned by the
Lithuanian community and is rented for education purposes.
The earliest (since 1888) parochial school in Mahoney City,
ǯȱȂȱǰȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ
building in 1907. However, it was not put into use until around
1925 (demolished after 1977).42 The earliest in the Midwest, the
Lithuanian parochial St. George School in Chicago, which had
been active since 1894, was the first in the region to build a sep-
arate building for itself. The growing parish had built an impres-
sive Gothic revival twin-towered church in 1902 (demolished in
1990), and a three-story, symmetrical, classic revival building with
16 classrooms and a large auditorium for community events in
1908. The school was initially run by Nazarene nuns, then by
Franciscan nuns, and from 1923 by Casimirite nuns. The number
of pupils then grew to 1,000 (St. George 1942). Today, the school
is used for educational purposes. The three-story, moderately
ȱǯȱȂȱȱȱǰȱ¢ǰȱȱȱ
volume of symmetrical composition, was built in 1915.43
The 1920s saw a proliferation of projects, an increase in their
scale, and a greater variety of architectural expressions. A char-
ȱ¡ȱȱȱȱȱǯȱȂȱȱȱ
in Waterbury, Connecticut, built in 1930 to the design by archi-
ȱ ¢ȱ ǯȱ Ȃȱ ǭȱ ȱ ǯȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ
actively in the Boston Archdiocese (Fig. 4). Classical composition
means and decor typical of the historic styles were also used
in the architecture of the Sacred Heart Parish school44 built
42 Ā½ǰȱȱā, 72, 301.
43 Ibid., 301.
44 Ibid., 112.
41
around ŗşŘśȮŗşŘŝȱȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȱǯȱȱ
School in Minersville, built at a similar time. At that time, some
of the buildings were taking on a more pronounced modernist
character. In 1923, a new three-story building replaced the first
Casimirite school in Mount Carmel (Fig. 5). The pediment of
the representative façade was decorated not only with a cross,
but also with the coat of arms of Lithuania. It was announced
that the school was built according to the latest government
requirements for light, heat and ventilation, and was equipped
with cloakrooms.45 The three-story St. Vincent de Paul School
constructed in 1925 in Girardville, Pennsylvania, is close to the
expression of functionalist architecture, with no additional dec-
45 Koncius, iǯȱ£ȱāȱ, 228.
Fig. 4. St. Joseph parochial school in Waterbury, Connecticut, 1930, archit. Timothy
G. O’Connell & Richard J. Shaw. ȱ¢ȱȱȱǻ¢ȱǯǯȱ+Ȭ
lionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas)
42
orative elements, a rational volume close to industrial archi-
tecture with distinct bands of windows and a functional com-
ȱ ȱ ȱǯȱȱȱ ŗşřŖȮŚŖǰȱȱȱȱ
led to the postponement of many construction plans. One of
the rare examples of that time is the wooden building of St. Jo-
Ȃȱ ȱ ȱȱȱȱŗşřŗǰȱȱȱ ǯȱ
Fig. 5. The Holy Cross Parish school, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, 1923. Photo
¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ǻ¢ȱǯǯȱ +ȱȱȱ ȱǰȱ
Kaunas)
43
Some parishes used to acquire buildings for schools. For ex-
ample, the Holy Trinity Parish in Hartford, Connecticut, pur-
chased a three-story, 18-classroom school building in 1923 (Holy
Trinity 1950). The ǯȱ Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱȱ
built an impressive twin-towered church in 1904 (architect Patrick
W. Ford), but did not become a school until 1945. It then pur-
chased two buildings from the city at the same time.46
In the 1950s, the Lithuanian-American community was en-
larged by war refugees from Europe. As a result, the Catholic
public infrastructure underwent a new phase of development.
The most impressive Lithuanian churches were built at that time,
designed by architects from Lithuania, some of whom were al-
ready well known in Lithuania, such as Jonas Kova-Kovalskis
and Stasys Kudokas. Others became famous in emigration, e.g.,
ȱȬ²ȱȱȱǯȱ¢ǰȱ
parochial schools were not on their list of projects. This was due
to the changes in education policy in the USA in the 1960s and
1970s, which led to a 40 percent drop in the number of pupils
in Catholic schools.47
In 1953, the St. Joseph Parish in Chicago built a new two-sto-
ry school with a church attached to it. Between 1953 and 1957,
a two-story school building was built in the Annunciation of the
Saint Virgin Mary Parish in Frackville, Pennsylvania.48 The most
recently built Lithuanian parochial school is that of St. Casimir
in Los Angeles, California. The relatively young Lithuanian par-
ish began building a community center in 1941. A pavilion-style
L-shaped five-classroom building (architect William Brown) was
completed in 1960. It was expanded in 1963 to add three class-
rooms (385 students).49 It also became home for a Saturday school
in 1965 (72 pupils). The building is now owned by the Lithuanian
community and is used as a Lithuanian school on weekends and
46 Ȭ²ǰȱLithuanian Religious Life, 138.
47 Walch, Parish School, 225.
48 Ā½ǰȱȱā, 154.
49 Gliauda, Šv. Kazimiero, 143 183.
44
an international French school on weekdays. This school also
marks almost a centenary of Lithuanian parochial schools in the
USA. The development of educational spaces continued partly
through the construction of spacious community centers in the
suburbs, which housed a church, a weekend school, a commu-
nity hall and other community facilities.
Conclusions
The conditions for the establishment of Lithuanian Roman Cath-
olic parochial schools in the USA were created when it was
allowed to form national parishes. Such parishes could only
serve members of the specific national group and had to be
fully funded by them. The process of establishing and building
Lithuanian schools was similar to that of other national groups.
The quality of education in these schools was supervised by
public inspectors, the process was organized by the archdioces-
es together with the parish, and it was carried out by the Con-
vent of the Sisters of Saint Casimir established specifically for
Lithuanian Catholic education, as well as by some other con-
vents, in addition to their other priority activities. In the archi-
tecture of Lithuanian parochial schools, we can clearly identify
the influence of the architectural styles that prevailed in the USA
ȱȱȱȱȱDZȱȱȱȱȱ-
vival of historical styles (Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque,
Classicist, Colonial Revival), also Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and
Modernism. These buildings were mostly initiated, sponsored
and built by people who immigrated from Lithuania. At the
time when religious communities in Lithuania were prohibited
to establish schools and to construct buildings for them, the
Lithuanian-American community had created a network of pub-
lic buildings for religious and education purposes. Therefore,
this group of buildings is an integral part of the heritage of not
only US but also Lithuanian culture in general and of Lithuanian
architecture specifically.
45
The earliest knowledge of Lithuanian Catholic parochial
schools in the USA dates back to 1888. At that time, the first
schools began to be established in the premises of churches built
by the diaspora (often in basements). In the 1900s, buildings
combining both a church and a school began to be built. These
were usually two-story buildings, with a school on one floor and
a church on the other. The school floor could be built both under
and above the church; there was no one, dominant solution for
the composition of the functions. In Lithuania, the country of
ancestry of these communities, placing premises above the church
was not practiced. Sometimes, an additional floor was built for
the community hall (often in the basement). There are examples
where the function of school was never created in the church-
school building, but the premises were adapted for community
activities. Due to the high level of investment, erection of some
buildings was implemented in phases. The first phase of con-
struction included a single-story building to accommodate the
school and church functions, followed by the addition of a second
floor as the school expanded, and the third phase included the
construction of a new, adjacent church for the congregation and
the adaptation of the premises to the needs of the local commu-
nity and the school community. In some rare cases, the previous
church building was adapted for a newly-established school and
the church was moved to a new building.
The first buildings specifically for a school were also built in
the 1900s. However, most of them were erected in the 1920s.
These buildings became more varied in function and more com-
plex in technical solutions. The subsequent economic crisis in
the USA and World War II put a long-lasting freeze on school
construction. In the 1950s and 1960s, the last parochial school
buildings were built in Frackville, Pennsylvania, and Los Ange-
les. It should be noted that several high school-level buildings
were also completed during this period. In the 1960s and 1970s,
a fundamental change in the education policy in the USA led to
the adaptation by existing schools to the requirements of public
schools, while also maintaining religious and ethnic education,
46
thus extending their existence for a few more decades. Subse-
quently, some of the school buildings were transferred to other
religious and ethnic groups, adapted for other uses, and some
have fallen into disrepair or been demolished. In the middle and
second half of the twentieth century, the need for schools grew
due to the wave of war refugees that replenished and renewed
the Lithuanian community in the USA. As a result, more Lithu-
anian weekend schools began to be established, often in the
premises of existing or former parochial schools. With residents
moving to the suburbs, suburban parish centers of a new type
were built, with facilities for weekend schools.
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Translated by Kerry SHAWN KEYS and Dalia i7
