Slapping the back of a guitar didn’t sound right. Tapping on the back of a kokle didn’t sound right, either. But pounding on a door was perfect, providing a deep, resounding “boom!” to punctuate the Mārtiņi folksong, “Kas dimd, kas rīb?”

And that’s what listeners may hear when they play a new album of traditional Latvian seasonal songs. The album, supported by the Latvian Church Dievturi and recorded by a group of singers and musicians from the American Midwest, should be ready this autumn.

Dievturi and friends from Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin gathered during the Memorial Day weekend May 26-28 for their second recording session in five months at Dievsēta, a Latvian-owned property near the small, rural Wisconsin community of Warrens. Dievturība is a Latvian folk religion that finds its wisdom in the dainas, which are often expressed in song.

“For years the people at Dievsēta have been talking about making a recording of the seasonal songs that we sing at Dievsēta at the different celebrations year-round,” explained project coordinator Zinta Pone of Minneapolis.

Several dozen songs may appear on the album, which is to be available in both compact disc and cassette format. The album initially was meant as a resource for Latvian schools, but its appeal could well be broader.

“People are interested in knowing what songs to sing at different times of the year,” Pone said, “as they are teaching about other traditions for the holidays. The education element is still primary, but we are going to sell the album to the general public. It should be entertaining for everybody.”

About five to 10 songs for each of the traditional seasons are expected to be included in the album, Pone said. “We don’t know yet if it will all fit on one album,” she added.

“Maybe we will divide the year over two albums. There are many people who are not familiar with specific seasonal songs, and we feel it is important to have recordings available so that these songs are not forgotten.” The album is to include printed lyrics and descriptions of the seasonal celebrations.

The singers and musicians who have participated in the two recording sessions number about 20. Songs have been performed solo, by duets and by large groups. Traditional instruments such as kokle, drums, accordian and trīdeksnis—as well as spur-of-the-moment innovations like the door—are used to complement the voices of the singers.

Manning the recording equipment is Atis Freimanis of Washington state, who—along with microphones and a mixer—flew to the Midwest during the winter solstice celebration and again during Memorial Day. Pone and other members of the folk group Lini met Freimanis during a concert trip to the West Coast. “Atis agreed to come to Wisconsin and record these seasonal songs,” Pone said.

Pone’s mother, Elga (leader of the Minneapolis-based folk ensemble Teiksma), and her cousin, Amanda Jātniece (like Zinta Pone, a member of both Teiksma and Lini), helped pick out songs and develop instrumentations and harmonies, she explained. “I did a homemade solo recording of the melodies, which I sent to the participants along with copies of the music and words. That helped them refresh their memories or become familiar with some of the songs before arriving in Dievsēta to record.”

During the recording sessions, the singers and musicians relied on Freimanis to guide them. “He was listening for the best possible sound and advised us of how many takes we should do of each song, played the recording back for our judgment and input and also offered ideas on how to make the songs more diverse and interesting to listen to,” Pone said.

“I think this was a great opportunity for the participants to experience professional recording and to feel an important part in a big project that will be enjoyed by people all around the world,” Pone said. “There is much, much enthusiasm behind the singing.”

Singers from Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin record a Latvian folk song during a recent session at Dievsēta in rural Wisconsin. (Photo by Andris Straumanis)

A new online resource promises to aid Latvians searching for ancestors who came to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The American Family Immigration History Center has made available passenger lists of ships entering the port of New York from 1892 to 1924. In all, more than 22 million immigrants, passengers and crew members came to America during this period.

The records became available April 17 at www.ellisislandrecords.org.

Perhaps hundreds of Latvian immigrants passed through New York on their way to new homes throughout America. Family history researchers wanting to review ship passenger lists previously had to travel to New York to view the original documents. Now searching may be done from a home computer, although the popularity of the site may try one’s patience.

Searching is simple, but at least a couple rules must be kept in mind.

First, during the time period covered by the records, many Latvians would have spelled their names using the old Gothic orthography. Thus, Ozols could very well appear in the records as Ohsols. A search for the surname “Ozols” found three individuals, but “Ohsols” returned nothing. The shorter version “Ozol” returned 18 names, while “Ohsol” yielded eight.

Second, Latvian immigrants who arrived in the years immediatedly following the 1905 Revolution may well have traveled with forged documents or under pseudonyms. For example, just because the family name was Kalniņš back in Latvia doesn’t mean that was the name used by a revolutionary trying to find a temporary home in the United States.

Once a user has completed the free registration with the center, detailed ship records may be viewed. Even these, however, only provide basic information: Nineteen-year-old Juris Ohsol, for example, arrived in New York on Sept. 30, 1922, on the Cunard ship Aquitania, which had set sail from Southampton, England. Additional features include information on the ship and its manifest, so users may learn with whom an ancestor traveled. The online system also allows annotation if users want to add additional information that may be viewed by others.

Search results may be refined, but users searching for Latvian ancestors may face problems here. “Latvian” or “Lettish” are not listed as ethnicities which can be used to tweak results, which is not surprising because for much of the period covered by these records Latvia was a region of the Russian Empire. In additional, “Libau” (Liepāja) is not listed as a port of departure, because for the voyage westward to America many Latvians changed ships at European ports such as Hamburg or Southampton.

Users of these records should keep in mind that they only cover the Ellis Island immigration center and the port of New York. However, immigrants from Latvia also arrived at other ports. For example, among the earliest arrivals in the late 19th century were Jēkabs Zībergs and handful of other Latvians who disembarked at Boston. Others may have first arrived in Canada and only later moved to the United States.

The records were put on line with the help of volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church has as one of its missions the cataloguing of all people. Others involved in the project are Compaq, FamilyTree Magazine and Hostcentric.

The popularity of the site overwhelmed the history center’s server, according to news reports. Millions of users tried to gain access to the site on its first day of operation. The history center now limits access.

A postcard shows the Cunard Line ship Aquitania, on which many immigrants came to the United States.