Nikolajs Rasins papers

Nikolajs Rasins (1915-2006) was born near Ludza in Latvia. He finished his local elementary school in 1930 and gymnasium at Aglona in 1934. After studying theology, philosophy and languages, he worked as a teacher and as a tax and budget inspector until World War II. During the War, he fled to a displaced persons camp in Germany, and in 1949 he emigrated to the United States. He worked construction for a year in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and then for the Alexander Film Company of Colorado Springs. He remained active in Latvian cultural activities, and helped found the Colorado Springs Latvian Society, of which he for several years was the chairman. He also was active in preparing radio, television and press material about Latvians, and with aiding the resettlement of recently arrived Latvian displaced persons. In 1957, Rasins moved to Minneapolis where he worked until his retirement at KTCA-TV, the local public television station. In Minneapolis, he chaired a committee in 1967-1968 organizing the local celebration of Latvia's 50th anniversary of independence, and helped organize the Latvian Credit Union and the Latvian House.