THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION'S FIRST CENTURY

The history of the Ukrainian National Association is documented in a new book by Dr. Myron Kuropas, "Ukrainian Citadel: The First Hundred Years of The Ukrainian National Association," to be published by The University of Toronto Press. In this special 12-page pullout section of The Weekly, prepared on the occasion of our publisher's centennial, we offer excerpts from Dr. Kuropas' pre-publication manuscript, reprinted with permission from the author. (Please note that the Ukrainian National Association (UNA) was known as the Ruskyi Narodnyi Soyuz (RNS) for the first 20 years of its existence.)

The 1960s

After many bitter years of estrangement from the Ukrainian Catholic Church in America, the UNA was finally able to achieve a reconciliation which benefited both the Church and the fraternal. ... Catholic and Orthodox hierarchs were able to sit down together. ...

The UNA played a crucial role in the erection of the Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington, D.C., initiating the idea, garnering American Congressional advocates, establishing a community-wide base of support ...

The struggle for Ukrainian recognition continued unabated. Both Svoboda and The Weekly supported political demonstrations, kept Ukrainian Americans informed about current issues related to Ukrainian aspirations and combated disinformation. ...

There was also an expansion of the UNA presence in Canada beginning with UNA participation in the annual Ukrainian National Festival in Dauphin, Manitoba, during which the early pioneering role of the UNA in western Canada was recognized and celebrated.

Always committed to unity among Ukrainians in the free world, the UNA helped bring about the first World Congress of Free Ukrainians arguing that its creation was "a natural sequel to what the UNA set in motion" in 1894. ...

All was not well, however. There were storm clouds on the horizon. The conflict between old and new immigration youth had never been resolved. There was no consensus on what constituted a Ukrainian identity in the United States. Political squabbling was alienating Ukrainian American youth. And no one, it seemed, knew what to do.

Illustrations Published:

• 1964: The Ukrainian National Association was intimately involved with the effort to erect a monument to Taras Shevchenko in Washington. The project became reality on June 27, 1964, when former President Dwight D. Eisenhower unveiled the statue by sculptor Leo Mol (Molodozhanyn). Above, members of the Shevchenko Memorial Committee, headed by UNA Supreme President Joseph Lesawyer (following the death of UNA Supreme President Dmytro Halychyn), are gathered in the artist's studio.
  
  
• 1966: A monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa was unveiled at Soyuzivka on September 18, 1966. Among those attending the ceremonies were Hollywood actors Jack Palance (sixth from left) and Mike Mazurki (third from left). Also in the photo are Walter Kwas (second from right) and Daniel Slobodian (first from right), both longtime managers at the UNA resort, as well as Svoboda administration staffers Luba Lapychak and Kvitka Steciuk, Svoboda Editor-in-Chief Anthony Dragan and Mary Lesawyer, wife of the supreme president.
  
  
• 1964: The UNA's 70th anniversary was celebrated in grand fashion with a concert at Carnegie Hall which presented the world premiere of Paul Pecheniha Ouglitzky's opera "The Witch."
  
  
• 1969: Soyuzivka's summer camps are extremely popular. Seen above are participants and counselors of the 1969 boys' camp.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 20, 1994, No. 8, Vol. LXII

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