Ukrainian archives in the U.S. are topic at roundtable (05/30/04)

Ukrainian archives in the U.S. are topic at roundtable

by Anisa Handzia Sawyckyj

NEW YORK - On the initiative of the Library and Archives of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in the U.S., a dozen specialists from several cities in the Northeast gathered recently at the society's headquarters in New York City for a first roundtable meeting to discuss the state of Ukrainian archives in the United States.

Librarians, archivists and researchers shared information about archival holdings in their respective institutions and discussed such topics as preservation techniques for fragile materials, cataloguing the contents of archives and the use of new technologies such as CDs to increase longevity of materials and online catalogues and websites to enhance information-sharing and accessibility to researchers.

"The documents of Ukrainians in the United States are a precious record of our community's history," said Svitlana Andrushkiw, librarian at the Shevchenko Scientific Society, and chair of the April 24 meeting. "As the years go by, many of the people familiar with these materials are passing away. We feel it is essential to initiate a discussion among archivists on how to best preserve this legacy."

Archival materials include such items as personal papers, diaries, letters, photographs, postcards, posters, films, records, tape recordings of meetings, convention minutes and much more. They are donated to a library or research institution by individuals or by organizations.

In addition to discussing a wide range of topics, participants were also able to view a demonstration by Vasyl Lopukh of the Shevchenko Scientific Society on how photographic images can be transferred to a CD from photographs or even from old glass negatives, of which the society has a large collection. He also showed how CDs have been utilized to preserve, store and catalogue archival materials on DP (displaced persons) camps, part of another extensive collection at the society.

By way of background, Ms. Andrushkiw pointed out the important work done by the State Committee on Archives of Ukraine, a project that was undertaken with the financial support of the Harvard Ukrainian Studies Fund and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. She urged anyone interested in this topic to view the impressive results of that project on the website www.archives.gov.ua.

Participating in the meeting and sharing information about their institution's archives were: Jurij Nawrocky of the Shevchenko Scientific Society's Library and Archives; Christine Pevny of The Ukrainian Museum in New York City; Ihor Vasylyshyn of The Ukrainian Museum and Library of the Stamford Catholic Diocese in Stamford, Conn.; the Rev. Frank Estocin of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cultural Center in South Bound Brook, N.J.; Victoria Kurchenko of the Documentation and Research Center at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City, organized by Taras Hunczak; and Ksenia Kiebuzinski of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and Harvard University's Widener Library in Cambridge, Mass.

Tetiana Keis described the Ukrainian archives in the library of Columbia University in New York, and researcher Alexander Luzhnycky of Philadelphia familiarized the group with other Ukrainian archives in the U.S., such as the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, a major archival program in Chicago's Ukrainian community, as well as collections in Palo Alto, Calif., Philadelphia, Glen Cove, N.Y., and other cities.

Unfortunately, not all invited institutions were able to send a representative to the roundtable. However, Halyna Myroniuk, the assistant curator of the Immigration History Research Center in Minneapolis, sent a report about its Ukrainian holdings, and Oksana Radysh of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in New York City conveyed important information in a telephone discussion prior to the meeting.

The exchange of information by archival specialists revealed a fascinating range of materials held by various institutions and the extraordinarily rich Ukrainian cultural life in the U.S. that these collections represent. The following offers just a small glimpse of the vast quantity of historical records available to researchers.

The Shevchenko Scientific Society, for example, holds 280,000 items as diverse as 50 complete family genealogies, glass negatives of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the papers of notable individuals.

The Ukrainian Museum has 30,000 photographs illustrating various aspects of Ukrainian community life in the U.S., in addition to many other documents.

The Ukrainian Museum and Library in Stamford has papers of Ukrainian community activists, archives of the Ukrainian Sitch Riflemen, records of the post-World War II Refugee Aid Committee, parish records and much more.

The Harvard University library's Ukrainian archive holdings are also extensive, and only half of them have been catalogued and described in detail. They include the papers of important Ukrainian individuals, as well as organizations.

The participants at the roundtable came to the conclusion that the major challenges facing Ukrainian archival institutions in the U.S. today are the need for more funding, the urgent need for more young archivists with a requisite background in Ukrainian matters to carry on this work, and the fragility of some archived materials which should be transferred to CDs or other stable media soon in order to be preserved for the future. All agreed that new technologies would be highly useful in both the preservation effort and in the dissemination of information about existing archives to interested parties.

Participants said that it would be desirable if institutions could specialize in certain periods or in certain topics, or if archival holdings could be consolidated across institutions for greater efficiency. However, they recognized that legal impediments make such specialization and consolidation difficult, inasmuch as donors of archival materials are usually quite specific as to which institution they want to leave their archival legacy.

Determined that their meeting should combine theory with practice, the group decided to focus on a feasible project that could be initiated immediately: the creation of an inventory of Ukrainian archival holdings in the U.S. that would include both the institutions represented at the meeting, as well as all other archives in the U.S, without which such an inventory would be incomplete.

When completed, the inventory will be made available online as well as in catalog form, and will provide researchers with a starting point for inquiries about archival sources in the U.S. A standardized form will be developed at the Shevchenko Scientific Society and mailed to all repositories of Ukrainian materials for their input and response.

Energized by each other's commitment to the preservation of the Ukrainian community's collective past, the attendees also decided to continue to work together on an ongoing basis under the aegis of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. The group will meet periodically, possibly in different cities, both in order to stay on top of innovations in the field of archival preservation and to monitor developments in the Ukrainian community, its institutions and its archives.

For further information, contact the Shevchenko Scientific Society at 63 Fourth Ave., New York, NY 10003-5200; telephone, (212) 254-5130; fax, (212) 254-5239; website, www.shevchenko.org; or e-mail, [email protected].

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