Latvians in Michigan have contributed to the culture and economy of the state far more than their numbers might suggest. This book will examine Latvia in the context of its location in Europe and give a brief history of the country. We will see how World War II culminated in famine, death, and eventual flight by many Latvian refugees from their homeland. Most Latvian emigrants eventually made their way after the war to Sweden or Germany, where they lived in various displaced persons camps. From there they were sponsored by individuals or organizations and immigrated to various parts of the...

Latvia is located on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. It shares borders with Estonia, Russia, Belarus, and Lithuania. Its land area of about 25,000 square miles could be compared to that of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is divided into four districts: Latgale, Kurzeme, Vidzeme, and Zemgale. The land is mostly flat, though it features a number of beautiful river valleys and numerous lakes and marshes. Forests cover about 41 percent of Latvia’s territory. The climate also can be compared to that of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.⁴

The first known human settlement in the territory that is now Latvia took...

In order to understand the Latvian immigrants’ success in Michigan, their work ethic and emphasis on education, and that of their children as well, one must look at where they came from and the influences that made them who they are. Also, the effect of these historical nuances have been instilled in first-generation immigrants.

As discussed in the previous chapter, Latvia was in the grip of either German or Russian domination from 1939 to the eventual “serving of the Baltic countries to Stalin” in the early 1940s. In 1939 German forces again took over the Baltic countries. Alexander Cadogan, permanent...

People have often wondered why Kalamazoo has been such an active Latvian enclave. The first Latvian immigration to the area can be pin-pointed to the late 1940s and began with the help of Jānis Laupmanis. Mr. Laupmanis emigrated from Latvia around 1937, married a local woman, and became a Methodist minister, establishing a small congregation on East Main Street.⁶⁰In 1948, Mr. E. Dīnvalds, his wife Milda and sons Raimonds and Valfrids and his family left the displaced persons’ camp (“Valka,” in Germany) and settled in Kalamazoo. Mr. Dīnvalds had been working for UNRRA and IRO at the Valka camp...

The Michigan National Guard can be seen as the most vivid example of a personal and professional bond between Latvia and Michigan, with the sponsorship of the Latvian National Armed Forces (Zemes Sargi). The U.S. National Guard Bureau developed the concept of the State Partnership Program (SPP) in 1992 in response to the many stark political, socioeconomic, and military changes occurring in Central and Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 1990s. The State Partnership Program established a working relationship between the United States and selected states in the newly emerging democracies of the former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Republic...

Previous chapters have traced Latvian immigration to Michigan beginning in the late 1940s. In Michigan, Latvians created communities, organizations, congregations, schools, and camps but also integrated in the larger community. The youngest of the original immigrants would now be about fifty years old, if they came to this country as infants; the oldest would be in their nineties. There is now a first and second generation of Latvian Americans. When these immigrants first came to America, their plan was that this would be only a temporary sojourn. In their new country they would work to preserve the language, culture, and...