Our History & Mission

The Philadelphia Society of Free Letts is the oldest Latvian Society outside of Latvia. Established as a settlement house in 1892 by Lettlanders fleeing oppression in Tsarist Russia, the organization has served generations of Latvians coming to the United States and advocated for Latvian independence during the Soviet era.

The society's mission is to foster public appreciation and understanding of the Latvian culture and language, to maintain and preserve archives, records, books, manuscripts, bibliography, and all materials, literature, documents, and papers relating to the Latvian culture, art, and language.

The society exists today as a community center and research facility with an explicit mission to forward and support Latvian culture. The society has recently opened its doors to various Philadelphia cultural organizations.