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The American Latvian Association (, ALA) is the main organization representing the
Latvian American Latvian Americans are Americans who are of Latvian ancestry. According to the 2008 American Community Survey, there are 93,498 Americans of full or partial Latvian descent. History The first significant wave of Latvian settlers who immigrated ...
community in the
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, which was founded on February 24, 1951. The association and its members lead and support global efforts to facilitate the peaceful and democratic development of
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
by promoting understanding and support for Latvia through informational efforts mainly in the
United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. In 1961, the ALA participated as a co-founder of the
Joint Baltic American National Committee The Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC) is a non-profit organization that monitors issues affecting Baltic-American communities in the United States and the nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. JBANC functions as the ...
in cooperation with the
Estonian American National Council The Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC) is a non-profit organization that monitors issues affecting Baltic-American communities in the United States and the nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. JBANC functions as the ...
and the
Lithuanian American National Council Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other J ...
. The ALA is also a member of the World Federation of Free Latvians (WFFL) and contributes 4 of WFFL's 16 board members. ALA has over 160 member organizations, and some 6,000 individual members, representing over 100,000 people of Latvian descent living in the United States. ALA headquarters are located in
Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...
, a suburb of
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Some of the 160 ALA member organizations include the cultural organization ''Tilts'', the Washington D.C. Latvian Lutheran Church, and the Latvian Welfare Association Daugavas Vanagi
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branch. The ALA is a
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non-profit, tax exempt educational and cultural organization registered as a private and voluntary organization with the
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. ALA is organized into 4 key program areas as is reported on the annual
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depicting the operations of non-profit organizations. The ALA supports cultural activities and facilitates cooperation within the Latvian American community, for example, organizing annual educational and cultural trips to Latvia. These programs help educate and inform the Latvian American Community about events and people in Latvia. The goals of the ALA are to promote the study of Latvian language, history and culture. The ALA is supplying Latvian schools in the United States with books and teaching materials, while also helping newly arrived Latvian immigrants to adjust to life in the United States and providing humanitarian aid to people in Latvia.


History

The complete history of the ALA has been compiled in two books. The first book, ''ALA 35, 1951-1986'' by former members Bruno Albats (former ALA General Secretary) and Visvaldis Varnesis Klīve (former President of the ALA) and was published in 1986. The second book, ''ALA 1986-2000'' was written and published in 2000 by Anita Tērauda (former ALA General Secretary) and Irēne Karule. These books provide an overview of the association and its founding process. As documented through the personal experiences of the authors, the initiator of the concept of a unified voice for the Latvian American community was the Latvian Ambassador to the United States (1948-1953), Jūlijs Feldmanis. On April 15, 1950, 79 representatives some of the main centers of the Latvian diaspora in the US, such as
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
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,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
etc., met to address the initiative. The representatives decided: (1) to create a nation-wide Latvian organization; (2) to define the organization's overall goals; and (3) to develop the organization's basic structure. The representatives established an organizing committee to draw up the organization's statutes and to call for a congress of delegates to formally establish the ALA. Following the meeting in April 1950, Ambassador Feldmanis continued to work with the representatives of the main Latvian diaspora centers to create a unified Latvian organization. Numerous meetings were held in the various communities (most importantly, May 24, 1950, in Philadelphia and August 5, 1950, in New York) to gain local support and to finalise the founding statutes. Mr. Feldmanis repeatedly stated that the main goal of the association will be the fight for Latvia's freedom. 115 delegates participated at the founding congress. They represented local Latvian organizations and churches in the U.S. with 11,260 members in total. Jūlijs Feldmanis was elected to lead the congress. After his proposal that the founding statutes be accepted without changes, the founding delegates agreed, officially establishing the ALA.


References


External links


American Latvian Association

Embassy of Latvia in the United States


including correspondence, reports, proposals, and periodicals, are available for research use at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...
{{Authority control Latvian diaspora Latvian-American history Latvian-American culture in Maryland Latvia–United States relations Rockville, Maryland