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Audio Recording Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Vilius Variakojis, Lithuanian American woodcarver and textile artist, Chicago, Illinois, part 2

Interview with Mr. an d Mrs. Vilius Variakojis, Lithuanian American woodcarver and textile artist, Chicago, Illinois, part 2

About this Item

Title

  • Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Vilius Variakojis, Lithuanian American woodcarver and textile artist, Chicago, Illinois, part 2

Names

  • Bradunas, Elena (Collector)
  • Variakojis, Vilius (Interviewee)
  • Variakojis, Bronislava (Interviewee)

Created / Published

  • Chicago, Illinois, July 12, 1977

Headings

  • -  Lithuanian Americans
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Interviews
  • -  Illinois -- Chicago

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Mr. & Mrs. Variakojis, part 2
  • -  Part 2 of a 4-part interview in Lithuanian with Mr. and Mrs. Vilius and Bronislava Variakojis, recorded at their home at 6919 South California, adjacent to Marquette Park; he is a woodcarver and model maker, including the creation of miniature models of Lithuanian farmsteads; she is a fabric artist, whose work includes embroidering textiles with Lithuanian folk motifs; the basement of their home is a personal museum in which they display their work; part 2 begins with Bronislava Variakojis; refugee story continued from part 1; about DP (Displaced Persons) camps, then to the U.S. via New Orleans, met by nuns and an orchestra; first impressions of America, dirty, depressing; in Chicago, Marquette Park seemed rural; husband Vilius Variakojis got a job with [Behardt’s ?] construction, carried bricks, exploited as a DP, no overtime, cheated, later got a job at the Campbell Soup Co., Bronislava Variakojis worked in a shoe factory, paid as piece work, low pay; “without the language, what can you do”; she also taught piano to Lithuanian children in Bridgeport, about 50 students over time; “I was always shy and afraid to look for other jobs”; retired in the 1960s; recap Vilius Variakojis’s jobs: Behardt’s, Campbell Soup, railroads as a mechanic, maintenance man at Wilson’s; about Vilius Variakojis’s woodcarving, symbolic value of folk art, if everyone had remained in Lithuania, the same appreciation would not have developed; lack of interest in these crafts among young people, adults ready to pass on to apprentices but few come forward; Bronislava Variakojis notes that some recent publications from Lithuania offer images of excellent textile patterns; at this point, Vilius Variakojis arrives and joins the conversation; he talks about carving in Lithuania, decorated rakes, given to girls; he learned how to make carved wooden chains from his grandfather;, in Lithuanial, he lived in an old homestead with linden and oak trees, but has heard from relatives recently who report that where the lindens grew, now only wheatfields sway and pigs graze; Vilius Variakojis wrote down his family history as dictated by his illiterate grandfather; comments on the family surname, surgery, copper (varis) pin in foot gave rise to the name of a veteran ancestor; his grandfather fought in the czar’s army in the Russo-Japanese War; Vilius Variakojis has some knowledge of Latvian, Russian, Ukrainian, German, and Polish; he knew no English when he came to the U.S., learned numbers by listening to the bus driver call out street names; studied English at night at Englewood High School for 3 years, prepared him to pass his U.S. citizenship test; he has been called Willie, Bill, and William in English.

Medium

  • audiocassette, C-60

Call Number/Physical Location

  • MBRS Shelflist: RYA 0825
  • Field Project Identifier: CH77-T309-C
  • Call number: AFC 1981/004: AFS 20837b

Source Collection

  • Chicago Ethnic Arts Project collection (AFC 1981/004)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

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Credit line: Chicago Ethnic Arts Project collection (AFC 1981/004), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Bradunas, Elena, Vilius Variakojis, and Bronislava Variakojis. Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Vilius Variakojis, Lithuanian American woodcarver and textile artist, Chicago, Illinois, part 2. Chicago, Illinois, 1977. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20837b/.

APA citation style:

Bradunas, E., Variakojis, V. & Variakojis, B. (1977) Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Vilius Variakojis, Lithuanian American woodcarver and textile artist, Chicago, Illinois, part 2. Chicago, Illinois. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20837b/.

MLA citation style:

Bradunas, Elena, Vilius Variakojis, and Bronislava Variakojis. Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Vilius Variakojis, Lithuanian American woodcarver and textile artist, Chicago, Illinois, part 2. Chicago, Illinois, 1977. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20837b/>.