Highlights from the UNA's 110-year history (04/11/04)

Highlights from the UNA's 110-year history

A special yearlong feature focusing on the history of the Ukrainian National Association.

One hundred twenty-one delegates attended the UNA's 10th convention held on July 7-10, 1908, in Philadelphia - quite an increase from the 72 that attended the previous convention two years earlier. Assets nearly doubled during that time period, from $23,705.34 in 1906 to $46,071.26 in 1908. Membership for the first time surpassed 10,000 members, reaching a total of 10,266.

One of the most notable decisions of this convention was that professionals were hired to appraise the Svoboda print shop, which was owned by the Ruthenian Exchange Co. On the basis of that appraisal, the UNA Supreme Assembly purchased the print shop and the newspaper on July 21, 1908, for the sum of $16,855.

Interestingly, while the previous convention determined that Svoboda would use the phonetic alphabet, the 1908 conclave decided that both the Latin and Ukrainian alphabets would be used on the pages of Svoboda - this because Ukrainians from Hungary and many from Halychyna could not read the Ukrainian alphabet.

The convention also directed the UNA Supreme Assembly to establish a Juvenile Department as an integral part of the UNA, and elected Dmytro Kapitula to his first term as president of the UNA.

Other highlights of the 10th convention's decisions: a $200 donation was voted for poet and writer Ivan Franko who devoted his life to the enlightenment of the Ukrainian people; a protest against all oppressors of the Ukrainian people, both in Ukraine and beyond its borders, was issued; and a message of sympathy and encouragement was sent to freedom fighters in Halychyna.

Source: "Ukrainian National Association: Its Past and Present, (1894-1964)," by Anthony Dragan (translated from the original Ukrainian by Zenon Snylyk). Jersey City, N.J.: Svoboda Press, 1964. The border featured in this special feature is reproduced from a UNA membership certificate dating to 1919.

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