Architektura w służbie nauki pisania i czytania, pobożności i tożsamości: litewskie szkoły parafialne w USA

Abstract

Industrialization during the 19th century led to large-scale economic immigration from Europe and the rest of the world to the United States. The social infrastructure of the then emerging workers’ districts reflected the religious and national identity of the communities that established it. Therefore, this text is intended to highlight a significant architectural heritage – the parochial school. Lithuanian parochial schools are part of the American cultural heritage; however, they are also the missing piece to the puzzle of Lithuanian architectural history. During the last two centuries, Lithuania survived two long occupations – first by the Russian Empire (in 1795–1918) and second – the USSR (in 1940–41, 1944–90). At the beginning of the 20th century, when non-Russian religious and secular education in Lithuania was prohibited, a network of Lithuanian schools already existed in the United States. Moreover, when the construction of Catholic churches was restricted in occupied Lithuania (from the 7th to 10th decades of the 19th and 6th – 9th decades of the 20th centuries), the tradition of sacral architecture not only survived, but also acquired phenomenal artistic expressions in the neighborhoods of US cities and settlements inhabited by the Lithuanian minority. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, parts of the catholic urban minority received the right to establish parishes on a national basis. Instead of territorial parishes, Polish, Italian, Irish, Croatian, Ukrainian, as well as Lithuanian Catholic parishes began to emerge. Therefore, the analysis of Lithuanian schools presented here could be relevant for those who are studying the architectural heritage of other ethnic groups in the USA. The distinctive building of this period was the combined school-church building. These minority communities oftentimes funded and constructed these buildings themselves. The Two-story buildings had a peculiar organization of spaces, not typically found in the homelands of these communities: a church on one floor and a school on another. Only the largest parishes had the means to build separate buildings for the school and church. Larger community centers emerged only in very exceptional cases. Due to the abundant immigration of political refugees after World War Second, the existing infrastructure no longer met the needs of the growing national communities. The new incomers, well known and recently graduated Lithuanian architects, created spectacular church buildings in the first post-war decade. However, 1970s was a period of change for U.S. education policy. As a result, Catholic education lost its significance and since then, new school buildings have rarely been built. In addition, rapid motorization led to intensive urban development into the suburbs. Then, a new type of community center was formed featuring spaces for the church, community meetings and events, gym, weekend Lithuanian school, and other parish community needs all located on one level in the spacious suburban plot. Several Lithuanian community centers were built in Canada during this time as well. There were complexes established and developed on an institutional, not only on a parish basis (such as the Jesuits). Today some of these buildings are used by other religious (protestant) or ethnic (Hispanic) communities or for an entirely different purpose (storage, office). However, many of these buildings are neglected or demolished. Just a few of these buildings have retained their original purpose and are used by their initial communities.