Commemorative book celebrates school's golden anniversary (10/24/99)

Commemorative book celebrates school's golden anniversary

NEW YORK - The School of Ukrainian Studies in New York, which this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1949, has issued a commemorative book documenting the history of the school's first half-century. The 368-page book contains over 100 photographs, spanning five decades.

The book, titled "Zolota Knyha Shkoly Ukrainoznavstva, OUA Samopomich u Niu Yorku, 1949-1999" (The Golden Book of the School of Ukrainian Studies, Self Reliance Association in New York, 1949-1999), features original articles about the school by many different authors, memoirs by some 20 of its graduates and several of its directors, and photos of many graduating classes from 1951 through 1999.

The book also includes a collection of articles about the school published previously in various Ukrainian-language periodicals over the last five decades, as well as a chapter on the topic of Ukrainian education. These is also a biographical index of teachers, a collection of biographies of the school's nine directors and an alumni directory. Documents from the school's archives, an appendix and a bibliography round out the volume.

The book is written in Ukrainian, with a few key articles in English.

The School of Ukrainian Studies in New York was the first of many such Ukrainian-language schools founded in the United States by post-World War II émigrés from Ukraine. It was organized by the Uchytelska Hromada (Teachers' Association), headed by noted Ukrainian educator Prof. Kost Kysilewskyj, under the aegis of the Self Reliance Association of Ukrainian Americans, New York branch.

In the first five or so years of its existence, the school offered a high school equivalency program (conducted in the Ukrainian language), as well as a Ukrainian studies curriculum, in two different tracks. By the mid-1950s the high-school equivalency program faded away, and in 1955 the school graduated its first Ukrainian studies class.

Among the faculty in the 1950s were such notable academics as art historian and architect Volodymyr Sichynskyj, writer Vasyl Barka, composer Ivan Nedilskyj, literary scholar Vasyl Lew, theater director and actor Yosyp Hirniak, philosopher and social critic Mykola Shlemkevych and others, who created for the school a venerable educational tradition.

In the chapter of student reminiscences several graduates of the 1950s vividly recall the classes taught by these professors.

Indeed, the book is dedicated to the 178 teachers who have taught at the school since 1949.

In the last 50 years the School of Ukrainian Studies in New York has graduated hundreds of students who have assumed important posts in the professions, the arts, in academia, business and government service. Some became community leaders, others took teaching posts at the school, several chose career paths that led them to jobs in Ukraine in the 1990s. As many of the student memoirs attest, this Ukrainian school played a vital role in shaping their world view, their self-identity as Ukrainian Americans and their sense of rich cultural inheritance.

The editor of "Zolota Knyha" is Anisa Handzia Sawyckyj; associate editor is George Gajecky; and editorial advisor is Olga T. Kekish. Members of the editorial board are: Marta Zownir Baczynsky, Svitlana Cholhan, Ivan Durbak, Irene Halatyn, Oksana Kuzyszyn and Basil Tershakovec. Olya Stasiuk designed the 50th anniversary logo and handled production of the book's promotional materials. Luba Labunka was in charge of the financial operation of the publication, assisted by Oksana Chomut-Andersen and Emilia Liteplo.

The above mentioned individuals are either parents, teachers, or alumni of the school.

"Zolota Knyha" is published by the 50th Anniversary Committee, chaired by Ms. Labunka, who is also president of the Parents Committee of the school.

To order the book, send $35 (plus $5 shipping and handling) to Self Reliance Association Parents Committee, c/o Oksana Andersen, 66-46 Gray St., Middle Village, NY 11379; telephone, (718) 326-4319.

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