Baltic Heritage Network conference “Tracing the Baltic Road to Independence in Diaspora Archives”
30 June-2 July 2015 in Latvian Academy of Sciences, Riga

June 30

13:00 – 14:00 Registration

14:00 – 14:30 Opening plenary session of the conference (Moderator: Kristīne Beķere)
Greetings:
– Ojārs Spārītis, Latvian Academy of Sciences
– Pēteris Elferts, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
– Māra Sprūdža, National Archives of Latvia
– Piret Noorhani, Baltic Heritage Network

14:30 – 15:00 Key note speech – to be confirmed

15:00 – 16:00 Panel 1. Sources and archives (Moderator: Kristīne Beķere)
– Liisi Esse. Collecting on Freedom and Recovery: The case of Stanford Libraries
– David Jacobs. Resources in the Hoover Institution Archives on the Search for Baltic Independence

16:00 – 18:00 Opening of the exhibition. Reception

July 1

9:30 – 11:00 Panel 2. Sources and archives (Moderator: Maarja Merivoo-Parro)
– Ineta Didrihsone-Tomaševska. Archives of the Latvian Embassy in the United Kingdom (London): New Sources about the Latvian Society in Exile and Latvian Diplomatic and Consular Service
– Valdonė Budreckaitė. The Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence in the US Press in 1990
– Lelde Neimane. Historical Sources About Latvians Outside Latvia in the Collections of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break

11.30 – 13.00 Panel 3. Balts in Australia (Moderator: Piret Noorhani)
– Marin Laak. Beyond the Fairytale Homeland: Reflected Estonia in the Australian Forest University in the 1980s
– Kristīne Saulīte. Life-long Road to Freedom. Australia and Latvians in Australia
– Maie Barrow. Chasing the Dream

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch break

14.00 – 15.30 Panel 4. Diaspora research (Moderator: Kristīne Beķere)
– Maija Krūmiņa. Exile Latvian Visits to the Soviet Latvia: Reasons, Possibilities, Effects
– Tiina Kirss. “Communicators” and “Freedom Fighters”: Diaspora Estonians. Contradictory Attitudes Toward the Homeland 1960–1980
– Maarja Merivoo-Parro. Exploring the Cold War Estonian Diaspora Through Popular Music

15.30 – 17.00 General BHN meeting

17:30 Excursion to the new building of Latvian National Library.

July 2

9.00-10.30 Panel 5. Diaspora research (Moderator: Piret Noorhani)
– Eduards Bruno Deksnis. The Baltic Diaspora and Restoration of Baltic Independence
– Ina Vaisiūnaitė. Lithuanian Broadcasting in USA as a Tool to Remember
– John Jekabson. The Role of Diaspora Baltic Journalists in the Restoration of Independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

10.30 – 11.00 Coffee break

11.30 – 13.00 Panel 6. Diaspora research (Moderator: Maarja Merivoo-Parro)
– Kristīne Beķere. Development of Political Cooperation Between Diaspora and Homeland 1988–1991
– Ave Maria Blithe. Keeping the Flame Alive. The vital role of expatriates in regaining Estonia’s independence
– Pauli Heikkilä. Baltic Independence – European Connections

13:00 – 13:30 Conclusion of the conference

13.30 – 14.00 Lunch on your own

14.00 – 17.00 Professional visits (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, National Archives of Latvia)