Real-life stories and hundreds of images put a face on twentieth-century immigrant life in the U.S. coal belt. Almost as soon as thousands of impoverished, rural Lithuanians poured into Central Illinois at the turn of the twentieth century, the coal-mining jobs for which they came began to dry up. This is their story of survival in the face of the Central Illinois "Mine Wars" and the Great Depression--and an immigrant dream deferred. It is also the story of a second wave of Lithuanian refugees these first-wave immigrants sponsored after World War II. Based on primary source interviews and newspaper and public records research. Written by a former journalist, with historical background to provide context for the two distinct waves of Lithuanian immigration to the U.S. and continuing ties with the homeland as Lithuania experienced two world wars, two successful independence movements, an interwar period of statehood, and the loss and re-establishment of independence after 50 years of Soviet occupation--all in less than 100 years. An all-in-one primer, written in journalistic style, for anyone with Lithuanian roots or anyone interested in twentieth-century European immigration to the U.S. With professional page design. 275 pages, B&W.