Co-Sponsored by Department of History, Lithuanian-American Club of Central Illinois, and the Illinois State Historical Society
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Displaced Persons Act,
which directly impacted the ethnic composition of Illinois, resulting in
the influx of a large Lithuanian population in Chicago and Springfield.
This panel discussion will examine how immigration at local and
regional levels relates to the broader domestic and international
contexts of the post-World War II period. Children of displaced persons
will share their stories. The panel discussion of historical immigration
policy can also inform our understanding of contemporary refugee crises
and immigration debates.
Robert Vitas has a Ph.D. in Political Science from
Loyola University, with expertise and publications on U.S. policy
regarding the U.S.S.R. and Lithuania. He is Chairman of the Lithuanian
Research and Studies Center and Executive Director, Inter-University
Seminar on Armed Forces and Society.
Sandy Baksys has been a newspaper reporter, medical
trade journalist, and for the last 22 years, a public relations
consultant and writer. The daughter of a displaced person, she is the
author of “A Century of Lithuanians in Illinois” and president of the
Lithuanian-American Club of Central Illinois.
Devin Hunter is an assistant professor of US and
Public History at UIS. He holds a Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago
and is currently working on a book manuscript that includes a chapter
about “newcomer” migrant social programs in Chicago in the 1950s.
Heather Bailey is an associate professor of History
at UIS with expertise in modern European and Russian history. She holds a
Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and her current book project
concerns western European perceptions of Russia in the nineteenth
century.