Albanian American Collections
Monographs
Albanian American monograph holdings consist of approximately thirty five volumes. Two subject areas -- Albanian Orthodoxy and politics -- constitute the strengths of the collection. Useful materials also exist in the areas of Albanian American literature, history, migration, and the ethnic press.
Of the three religions traditional to the Albanian American community -- Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, and Roman Catholicism -- the IHRC collections highlight the first. Sources on the Albanian Orthodox Church in America, founded in New York in 1908, include works by Fan S. Noli, a composer and politician as well as the Church's first ordained priest (later its Metropolitan), and the Fiftieth Anniversary Book of the Albanian Orthodox Church in America, 1908-1958 (1960). Primary sources are also available pertaining to the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America, founded after World War II. Writings of Bishop Mark Lipa include Informative and Progress Report of Our Diocese, an essay pamphlet with a lay council's report (1961), and Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (1964); there is also an album marking the consecration of a church in Chicago (Consecration of the Saint Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church, Oct. 10, 1971, 1971).
The continuing interest of Albanian Americans in the mother country is apparent in IHRC holdings reflecting political activity. The organization most fully represented is the Pan-Albanian Federation of America, founded in Boston in 1912 to promote Albanian nationalism. Available publications of "Vatra" (The Hearth), as the organization is popularly known, include Fehime Pipa's Elementary Albanian: Filltar i shqipes (1900) and albums commemorating its forty-fifth and fiftieth anniversaries. Other political works in the IHRC holdings include The Background of the Italian-Greek Conflict (1940), a pamphlet by the activist Faik Konitza presenting an Albanian view. Postwar opposition both to the platform of Vatra and to that of Shqipëria e Lirë (Free Albania Organization) is expressed in Glenn A. McLain's Albanian Exposé: Communism Versus Liberation for Albania (1952), published by the Albanian American Literary Society (Quincy, MA).
The IHRC holds a small selection of literature in Albanian. World literature translated by Fan Noli, among others, is present, as well as poetry of Ramiz Harxhi (Ndjenjat e zemres: vjersha, 1917) and Arshi Pipa (Libri i burgut [The Book of Prison], 1959). The collection also includes fiction, Dasmë në shtëpi të vançit (n.d.), and one-act plays, Kthimi në krujë (1964) and Skënderbeu (Scanderbeg, 1972), all by Vasil D. Alarupi.
General history on Albanian Americans can be found in Constantine A. Demo's full-length study of the early migration, The Albanians in America: The First Arrivals (1960). On the background of Albanian migration, works on Albanian history by Fan Noli (Historia e skénderbeut: Kryezolit té arbérise [1405-1468], 1950) and Faik Konitza (1957) are available. Finally, the ethnic Albanian press is represented by the sixtieth anniversary album (1969) of the Boston weekly newspaper Dielli (The Sun), since 1912 the official organ of Vatra.
Newspapers
The Albanian American, Boston, MA. Monthly: 1954-1958.Dielli (The Sun), Boston, MA. Monthly (weekly): 1965-date. Includes English.
Drita E Vertete (True Light), Boston, MA. Monthly: 1965, 1969-1982.
Liria (Liberty), Boston, MA. Weekly: 1964-1986. Includes English.
Skënderbeu (Scanderbeg), Boston, MA. Monthly: 1951. Includes English.
Serials
Vreshta(The Vineyard), Boston, MA. Quarterly: 1970. English.
Yll'i Mëngjezit(The Morning Star), Boston, MA. Semi-monthly: 1917-1918. Includes some English and French.
