''Laisvė'' (Freedom) was a

Lithuanian-language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

radical political newspaper published in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

from 1911 to 1986. The privately owned paper was originally associated with the American Lithuanian Socialist Union, forerunner of the

Lithuanian Socialist Federation Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

. After the 1919 split of that organization into Socialist and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

wings, ''Laisvė'' became an organ of the

Communist Party of America The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

. The paper was one of the most influential and longest-running radical Lithuanian language newspapers in the US, issued daily from 1919 through 1958.

History

Establishment

''Laisvė'' was launched in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

on April 5, 1911 under the editorship of Antanas Montvydas, a recent immigrant from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

.Algirdas Martin Budreckis, "Lithuanians," in Dirk Hoerder with Christiane Hoerder (eds.), ''The Immigrant Labor Press in North America, 1840s-1970s: An Annotated Bibliography: Volume 2: Migrants from Eastern and Southeastern Europe.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987; pg. 167. Produced twice a week at the time of its launch, the paper quickly found a readership among the

Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refer to Americans, American citizens and residents of Lithuanians, Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population ...

community and achieved a circulation of 5,000 within its first year. Although privately owned, ''Laisvė'' was closely associated with the Amerikos Lietuvių Socialistų Sąjunga (ALSS, American Lithuanian Socialist Union), established in 1904.Tim Davenport
"Foreign Language Federations (1890s-1930): Lithuanian Federations,"
Early American Marxism website, www.marxisthistory.org/ Independent for a decade, this Lithuanian-speaking organization voted to affiliate with the

(SPA) at the end of December 1914 and formally joined early the next year, becoming the

Development

The Lithuanian-American socialist movement showed significant growth during the decade of the 1910s, and ''Laisvė'' benefited from the expansion. Leonas Prūseika came on board to edit the publication in 1912 and moved the semi-weekly from Boston to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1914. By 1917 the paper's circulation had nearly tripled from its inaugural year, hitting 14,850. Circulation declined somewhat during the wartime years, but the publication was not destroyed by the draconian actions against anti-war publications taken by

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

Albert S. Burleson and the

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

administration. In 1919, following the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

circulation remained at the 14,000 mark. In the summer of 1919, the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party formalized the split of the organization into antagonistic Socialist and Communist wings. The Lithuanian Socialist Federation had already been suspended in June 1919 by the National Executive Committee of the SPA in June as part of the factional war and that group moved ''en masse'' into the newly established

(CPA). ''Laisvė'' also shifted its affiliation, becoming a ''de facto'' CPA publication. The paper was moved to a daily publication schedule (except Sunday) and its circulation increased again, hitting 17,800 in 1920—a figure that would prove to be the high point in its history. ''Laisvė'' was formally owned by an entity called the Lithuanian Cooperative Publishing Society.Solon DeLeon with Nathan Fine (eds.), ''American Labor Press Directory.'' New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1925; pg. 20. The paper maintained its office at 46 Ten Eyck Street in Brooklyn. ''Laisvė'' would remain a daily from 1919 to 1958, with its circulation gradually declining over time. The paper, typically 4 to 6 pages in length, carried a variety of national and international news and remained strongly supportive of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

throughout its entire history, including such controversial events as the

Soviet occupation of the Baltic states The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic st ...

in the summer of 1940 and the Soviet establishment of permanent control over the Lithuanian nation in 1944. In the period after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''Laisvė'' increased its coverage of events in

Soviet Lithuania The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

, including reprints from the Soviet Lithuanian press from 1970.

Decline and demise

The continuing decrease in numbers of the Lithuanian-speaking population in America and the general decline of the American Communist movement were decisive in the demise of ''Laisvė.'' The paper moved from a daily to a weekly publication schedule in 1958. The paper's editor of three decades, , died in 1967, to be succeeded by longtime Lithuanian-American Communist journalist and historian

Anthony Bimba Antanas "Anthony" Bimba Jr. (1894–1982) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian-born American newspaper editor, historian, and radical political activist. An editor of a number of Lithuanian Marxism, Marxist periodicals published in the United States, Bim ...

. Bimba himself died in 1982, shortly before the final demise of the publication in 1986.

Editors

Antanas Montvydas Antanas is a Lithuanian masculine given name derived from Antonius that is equivalent to Anthony in Lithuania. It may refer to: * Antanas Andrijauskas (born 1948), Lithuanian philosopher * Antanas Bagdonavičius (born 1938), Lithuanian rower and O ...

(1911–1912) * Leonas Prūseika (1912–1917) * (1917–1933) * Kazimieras "Kazys" Vidikas (1933–1937) * Rojus "Roy" Mizara (1937–1967) * Antanas "Anthony" Bimba (1967–1982) *

Ieva Mizarienė Ieva is a Latvian, Lithuanian, and dialectal Finnish given name, counterpart of English Eve, derived from a Hebrew name meaning "life" or "living one". It can also mean full of life or mother of life. It is the standard biblical form of Eve in m ...

(1982–1984) * Editorial Collective (1984–1986)

History

Establishment

Development

Decline and demise

Editors

See also

References

Further reading