Ukrainian Cultural Research Center dedicated in Stamford
by Irene Jarosewich
STAMFORD, Conn. - More than six decades have passed since Bishop Constantine Bohachevsky of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford first articulated his vision: to establish a Ukrainian educational center in the United States for those who had left their homeland, and for their children and grandchildren who were destined to be born in America. According to the bishop's vision, the center was to serve as a link between the New World and historical legacy. The bishop understood that true spiritual depth and integrity could only come with knowing the past.
Though Bishop Bohachevsky began to assemble a collection in 1935, it was in 1937 that the Ukrainian Museum and Library Complex of the Diocese of Stamford was formally established. It was a modest beginning of books and documents, folk art and religious artifacts. Sixty years later, on November 22, the new, vastly expanded, renovated, and modernized Ukrainian Cultural Research Center, which combines museum, library and archival photo and music collections, was formally dedicated and opened in two large buildings on the campus of St. Basil College Seminary and the diocesan center of Stamford.
The renovated buildings that house the diocesan center, the educational center and seminary are located on several acres of what was formerly the Quintard Estate, the private home of a millionaire. The estate later became a private girls' academy, and in 1932 was purchased by Bishop Bohachevsky for the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Msgr. John Terlecky, director of the Ukrainian Cultural Research Center, credits Bishop Basil Losten with providing the opportunity and commitment since he came to Stamford in 1977 to expand and complete the center. Hennadii Udovenko, president of the United Nations General Assembly and Ukraine's foreign affairs minister, was the keynote speaker at the dedication. He also praised Bishop Losten's commitment and added with admiration that he is "always amazed by Vladyka (Bishop) Losten's energy," as well as his scope of knowledge and interest.
More than 120 guests attended the formal opening on Saturday afternoon, and the guests were wonderfully entertained by the "Pre-Freshman Six," a group of young seminarians from Ukraine who have formed a musical group. By early evening, their lively voices pulled remaining guests into a circle around them, with people joining hands and singing along to favorite Ukrainian folk songs.
Fifty-six young men now attend St. Basil's Seminary, and, according to Lubov Wolynetz, chief curator of the museum collection and the center's computer reference librarian, "these young men enliven our diocese, and they will be the bridge between us and Ukraine in the future."
Mrs. Wolynetz shoulders much of the responsibility of including Stamford's library collection in the On-line Computer Library Center (OCLC). This cataloguing system, which was started in Ohio in 1967, is now used by 22,000 scholarly and research libraries worldwide. According to Mrs. Wolynetz, "Our library is the first diasporan library to be part of system. We have a large number of books that nobody has, and we do original cataloguing (on Ukrainian topics), which makes us very proud." Mrs. Wolynetz noted that there are collegial relations between Slavic librarians and cataloguers in North America and, with the advent of computer networks, a frequent and easy exchange of information.
Dr. Wasyl Lencyk, who was director of the Ukrainian Museum and Library Complex since the mid-1950s until his recent retirement, noted in his presentation at the dedication that the collection at Stamford has "one of the best libraries in Ukrainian studies in North America, not necessarily in number of volumes, but in terms of quality of collection, in the type of books and completion of collections."
Bishop Bohachevsky provided the initial foundation for the collection. In addition to his own personal collection, the bishop received advice from Yevhen Yurii Pelenskyi, a Lviv scholar and archivist, on which books should be purchased and acquired. In the years before the second world war, the bishop traveled to Lviv frequently, often bringing back collection materials with him.
The library now contains 52,000 volumes, and the archive also includes a comprehensive collection of Ukrainian immigrant documents, statutes and by-laws from numerous diaspora organizations, as well as artifacts, photos and documents from religious and community life in North America.
Msgr. Terlecky noted that his career with Stamford's library and archive collection began rather inauspiciously with a simple query from Bishop Basil: "Do you think that you can do something with all of these boxes?"
Often the library would receive a phone call from a relative of a priest, or parishioner, who had recently passed away, asking whether the center would be interested in the deceased's collection of books, or parish photos, or other items. Over the years, the center received dozens of donations from a wide variety of personal collections.
Among the notable collections, according to Msgr. Terlecky, are those of Prof. Nicholas Chubaty, an outstanding church historian and the first editor of The Ukrainian Quarterly; the Rev. Maxim Kinash, a renowned collector of Ukrainian folk art and folk music, as well as pre-World War II publications from Ukraine; cantor Stepan Hrabar who donated an extensive collection of printed sheet music, many pages with verses printed in Old Cyrillic; the collection of Dr. Basil Steciuk, a professor of classics and literature at Seton Hall University; as well as the Kobrynsky collection of fine art and literature.
The center is open by appointment only. Scholars, individual guests and tour organizers are encouraged to call (203) 327-7899 or 323-7512, or fax (203) 967-9948; the e-mail address is: [email protected]
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 7, 1997, No. 49, Vol. LXV
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