FACES AND PLACES: Happy birthday, Batko Soyuz! (02/29/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Happy birthday, Batko Soyuz!

If you weren't paying attention, you probably missed it. The Ukrainian National Association turned 110 on February 22.

The first UNA anniversary celebration was held in 1895, in Olyphant, Pa., then the heartland of the rapidly expanding Rusyn/Ukrainian community. Originally known as the Ruskyi Narodny Soyuz, the UNA had some 2,800 members at the time and 75 branches.

Svoboda published an announcement about the upcoming convention, emphasizing cultural and economic development:

"A very important moment will soon be upon us members of the only national Rusyn organization [in the United States]. It was a little over a year ago that we, recognizing our spiritual, national and economic needs, gathered under one flag and became united within Soyuz, one large Rusyn family, in order to stand as one in support of Rusyn national rights and to shine the light of truth and knowledge among our brothers and scattered by fate to all corners of the United States. The time has come to determine how far we have come to look at our cultural development in the United States and to determine our economic standing ..."

The celebration included a concert featuring a choir of 70 voices, a drama titled "Germanized George," and a presentation by Father Nestor Dmytriw titled "The Cultural Role of America."

The UNA's membership increased and, in the years that followed, the organization purchased Svoboda, established reading rooms and classes for illiterates, and gradually transformed approximately 40 percent of America's Rusyns into conscious Ukrainians.

The 10th anniversary of the UNA was celebrated in Shamokin, Pa., in 1904. A special 18-page jubilee issue of Svoboda was published on May 26 with an editorial titled "The Feast of the RNS and Svoboda." Authored by Father Ivan Ardan, the editorial mentioned Ukraine as a "land that is today enslaved; whose children are divided by mountains, wide rivers and a deep ocean but which, despite its many enemies, has not perished but lives on, aware of its unity and its strength."

"Now the nation stirs and tests the strength of the chains that bind it. And the time is near when it will break the chains and crush its enemies. And it will emerge a nation free and happy. And it will build a home of its own. And in this home there will be no tsar, no overlord, but Equality, Brotherhood and Liberty. ...

Then we shall celebrate a greater feast - a feast of unity and glory. We here must also make our contribution to bring about this feast of greatness and of glory ... Let us pledge today that we shall work constantly for the good of our great nation to bring about as soon as possible the greatest of all great days when we shall celebrate the freedom and independence of Rus'-Ukraine."

The highlight of the 20th anniversary celebration in 1914 was the name change, from the Ruskyi Narodnyi Soyuz (Little Russian National Union in English) to the Ukrainskyi Narodny Soyuz in Ukrainian, and the Ukrainian National Association in English.

When Ukraine declared its sovereignty in 1917, Svoboda, by then a daily publication, reported every development faithfully and succinctly.

The 40th UNA anniversary celebration was the most productive. It was also the longest because it lasted for almost the entire decade. The UNA published a 752-page commemorative almanac for the occasion. Edited by the legendary Svoboda editor Luke Myshuha, the monumental publication included short histories of every single UNA branch then in existence, as well as fascinating articles devoted to Ukrainian history, music, culture, women and youth. Memoirs of UNA pioneers were also included. The table of contents was in both Ukrainian and English. Authors included celebrated American-and European-born men and women, all of whom focused their written thoughts on the UNA, Ukraine and the role of the Ukrainian immigration in preserving the Ukrainian heritage. The extraordinary almanac remains the single most significant publication produced by Ukrainian Americans.

Other UNA accomplishments worthy of mention during the 1930s include the establishment of The Ukrainian Weekly in 1933, the creation of the Ukrainian Youth League of North America that same year, and the funding of various sports activities, primarily softball teams. What makes these endeavors so extraordinary is the fact that they occurred during America's Great Depression.

The most extravagant UNA anniversary celebration was the 75th. The theme was "In tribute to the pioneers, with eyes toward youth" and membership at the time was at an all-time high of 88,000. An entire issue of The Ukrainian Weekly was devoted to the celebration. Plans were under way to build a new 15-story headquarters in Jersey City. A series of events were planned for Shamokin, birthplace of the UNA, including the unveiling of a bronze plaque honoring UNA pioneers, a divine liturgy, and a gala concert and banquet. The UNA commissioned Ulas Samchuk, a distinguished Ukrainian author to write a popular history of the UNA. The result was "In the Footsteps of the Pioneers: A Saga of Ukrainian America," published in 1983. The UNA also commissioned an opera. The result was "Anna Yaroslavna," an opera in three acts recalling relations between Rus'-Ukraine and France in the 10th century. Written by Antin Rudnytsky and Leonid Poltava, the opera debuted at Carnegie Hall on May 24, 1969.

One hundred years ago our UNA pioneers dreamed of a free Ukraine with "no tsar, no overload, but Equality, Brotherhood and Liberty." Today, Ukraine is a sovereign nation with no tsar. There are overlords, however, who are undermining brotherhood and liberty. Hopefully, this will change with the October elections.

Nothing of significance happened during the past 110 years in the Ukrainian community without the UNA. A history of the UNA is available in English, and a Ukrainian edition is forthcoming. Read it. Why? Because we can't know where we are today, or where we are going, without knowing where we've been.

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is [email protected].

| Home Page |