The collection contains significant materials relating to the movement for Latvian (and Baltic) independence in the late perestroika era of the Soviet Union, as well as documents pertaining to the first year of the renewed Latvian state that emerged in 1991. These materials were selected by Lejnieks as her personal record of a time that is often referred to by Latvians as simply "The Barricades," a turbulent period that saw barricades erected in the Latvian capital Rīga and the killing of demonstrators by Soviet security forces (OMON troops). The materials in the Lejnieks collection include clippings, correspondence, serial issues, monographs, and video recordings. Most prominent among the serial issues are copies of the American Latvian newspaper Laiks, which provided extensive coverage of events in Latvia during this period. The articles in Laiks illustrate how the Latvian independence movement was perceived, encouraged, and criticized by the Latvian diaspora in North America, and other materials in the collection also show how the movement was depicted in the mainstream media of the United States.

5 manuscript boxes, 1 card file box (2.0 Linear Feet)

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.