Turning the pages back... April 11, 1953 (04/08/01)

Turning the pages back...

April 11, 1953

Forty-eight years and two home offices ago, The Ukrainian Weekly published a feature article headlined "Visit the UNA Building" that was written by Josephine Gibajlo Gibbons.

The article focused on the Ukrainian National Association's Home Office building, located at 81-83 Grand St. in Jersey City, which was built in 1928 on the site of the old UNA headquarters. Following are excerpts from Ms. Gibbons' article.

* * *

... Many members of the UNA have seen and visited the [Home Office] building. The great majority have not, as they live too far away here in the USA and in Canada. So here is a "tour" of the place. ...

The first floor contains the editorial and business offices taking up about half the length of the structure with the printing shop in the rear. The printing shop, it is worth noting, is one of the best for its needs and size. Its equipment, for example, includes five Intertype machines, two of them of the most modern automatic shift-mixer types, running in cost to about $12,000 apiece at present valuation. They set up the Svoboda, The Ukrainian Weekly and do other print jobs, such as books, leaflets, brochures, placards, etc. Consequently the printing shop is manned from early dawn to late at night daily - two shifts. Besides the Intertypes, the print shop contains the latest in printing presses.

In the basement of the building are the printing presses, one a modern Duplex for printing of newspapers, and the other a book press. There is also located the mailing department, equipped with modern Addressograph machines. The second floor houses the executive offices and business offices of the Ukrainian National Association.

As to personnel, same consists of the executive officers, editors, office employees, printers, linotypists, expediters - numbering in all 46 persons. Some of them have been with the UNA, Svoboda and the Weekly for quite a number of years. Quite a number of them are drawn from the newcomers. All of them, the old and the new immigrants, the American born, constitute a good working UNA office family.

If it so happens that during the coming summer any of you out-of-towners happen to be in the vicinity of Jersey City, drop in and visit the "Soyuz."

Source: "Visit the UNA Building" by Josephine Gibajlo Gibbons, The Ukrainian Weekly, April 11, 1953.

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