THE 1970s - A LOOK BACK: Afterword (12/30/79)

THE 1970s - A LOOK BACK

Afterword

In addition to the events and actions that we portrayed on the preceding pages, the Ukrainian community in the free world was visible in several other fields of endeavor:

What might have been initially low-key commemorations of Ukrainian independence have blossomed into national observances. Triggered by the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic School in Newark, N.J., in 1973, many other Ukrainian schools declared January 22 to be a national holiday and gave their students the day off, though they reminded the youngsters to take part in some meaningful activity commemorating the holiday. Also, Ukrainian businesses, following the lead of the Ukrainian National Association in 1974, have been closing their business on January 22, displaying appropriate signs on their windows to explain why their stores are closed. The list of federal legislators, state governors and city mayors who have recognized the importance of Ukrainian Independence Day by issuing proclamations has also grown in the 1970s.
In 1970s Americans who trace their heritage to countries held in bondage by communism marked the 15th and 20th anniversaries of the Captive Nations Week proclamation. The annual presidential proclamations, together with similar ones issued in state capitols and city halls, have shown that the ideas put forth in Public Law 86-90 are still adhered to by Americans.
Ukrainians on two continents paid tribute to the poet laureate of Ukraine - Taras Shevchenko - by constructing monuments in Apostoles, and Buenos Aires, Argentina; Toulose, France; and Paraguay.
Ukrainians also paid tribute to Ukrainian poetess Lesia Ukrainka by erecting monuments to her in Toronto, Ont., and at Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson, N.Y.
The year 1970 saw one of the massive charitable activities undertaken by Ukrainians in the free world. That year the area around Banja Luka in Yugoslavia, a region which is densely populated by Ukrainians, was struck by a severe earthquake, leaving many dead, injured and homeless. The Ukrainian National Association, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee spearheaded an all-community effort to alleviate the suffering of Ukrainians there.
In 1973 and 1978 Ukrainians in the free world marked the 40th and 45th anniversaries of the Kremlin-made famine in Ukraine which killed 7 million people. Washington, Passaic, South Bound Brook and Toronto were just some of the sites at which thousands of Ukrainians gathered to pay tribute to the victims of Moscow's brutality. The action in 1978 gave rise to the proposal of erecting a special monument to the victims of the famine by the time of the 50th anniversary.
In the past 10 years Ukrainian community life also revolved around the formal activity of holding periodic conventions and congresses. Born in 1967, the World Congress of Free Ukrainians saw two international conclaves in the 1970s. On the national level, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America held two congresses and the Ukrainian Canadian Committee held three. A significant aspect of the WCFU, UCCA and UCC assemblages was that Ukrainian students were beginning to make their presence felt. Either by supporting the establishment or forming a loyal opposition, Ukrainian students told their elders that they are concerned with the direction the community has taken and want to have a say in its future. Their interest in the decision-making process has not abated.

In addition to the umbrella organizations, Ukrainian societies spanning the entire gamut of interests, convictions and pursuits held conventions, at which not only were new officers elected but the continuation of those organizations and the community life as a whole was assured.

In line with the determination to preserve and develop the Ukrainian spiritual heritage as a vital dimension of the total identity, the Ukrainian community evolved a series of organizations wholly devoted to the promulgation of fine arts, folk arts, music, choreography and the art of choral singing.

Indeed, the 1970s witnessed a burgeoning of Ukrainian culture in every country of Ukrainian settlement, with new generations of young Ukrainians seeking out new ways of enriching the heritage passed on to them. The numerous festivals, concerts and other programs bore testimony to the credo of preserving and developing the Ukrainian spiritual heritage. More often than before the Ukrainian culture made its way into the non-Ukrainian world where it was greeted with undisguised admiration.

The young people were also instrumental in perpetuating sports activity both in amateur clubs and in their organizations, staging local and national meets and engaging in competition during the summer camp tours. Scores of Ukrainian Canadians made good in professional hockey upholding the tradition of Ukrainian excellence in this sport. Soccer and volleyball retained popularity among Ukrainian youths, with some of them rising to the highest levels of competition in the United States and Canada.

If the era of ethnicity is to remain with us, then Ukrainians will certainly have played a prominent part in forging the concept of a cultural mosaic. Moreover, the bonds of common culture and language stretch across the oceans, to every country of Ukrainian settlement and to Ukraine. The knowledge that the heritage is passing through the most trying of times in Ukraine, generates the need to preserve it in the free world. In that respect Ukrainians in the free world have risen to the task.

| Home Page |