Just about every year at about this time, The Ukrainian Weekly strives to publish an editorial highlighting the valuable work of the Ukrainian National Association. Not only is this organization the publisher of The Ukrainian Weekly and our sister publication, the Ukrainian-language weekly Svoboda, it is also our community’s oldest and strongest fraternal benefit society – one that has been faithfully serving its members, and our community at large, since its founding on February 22, 1894. The UNA’s charitable arm, the Ukrainian National Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1992, supports student scholarships, promotes the arts and culture, and provides humanitarian aid. Most recently the foundation became the owner of the Soyuzivka Heritage Center. As noted in an article in the January 25 issue of The Weekly, after years of the groundwork being laid, Soyuzivka itself had gained 501(c)(3) status, which has opened new horizons for its activity and success into the future. (To find out more about the UNA, we direct readers to the website ukrainiannationalassociation.org.)
This year, we’ve decided to once again pay homage to the UNA, but in a different way: by pointing to its almanacs, which have been published since 1903. Each one of these annual publications is a veritable treasure trove of information. The latest volume in this series, the 2015 Almanac of the UNA, is dedicated to the centennial of the founding of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (Ukrayinski Sichovi Striltsi); a special section chronicles what has come to be known as the “Revolution of Dignity” on the occasion of its first anniversary.
Through the years, UNA Almanacs published by Svoboda Press, have highlighted many significant anniversaries and touched on countless fascinating topics. Among them have been: anniversaries of Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, Ivan Kotliarevsky and Symon Petliura, the millennium of Christianity in Rus’-Ukraine, Ukraine’s independence, the end of World War II, the Battle of Kruty, Akcja Wisla, Chornobyl, displaced persons, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization.
Topics covered in UNA Almanacs have ranged from history and literature to nature, folk traditions, technology and science, religious beliefs, our diaspora, sports and the Olympics, philately, memoirs and more. There was a special almanac in 1978 dedicated to three noteworthy anniversaries: Svoboda’s 85th, The Ukrainian Weekly’s 45th and Veselka’s 25th. (Veselka, which ceased publication in 1995, was the beloved children’s magazine once published by the UNA.) Especially noteworthy were the jubilee almanacs released on the major anniversaries of the UNA. The 50th anniversary almanac, for example, was a larger hard-cover edition meant to be a keepsake. Prior to that, in 1936, the UNA published a 752-page hard-bound Jubilee Book dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the UNA that took an in-depth look at the UNA, its founders, movers and shakers; the worldview of the Ukrainian immigrant to America and the multi-faceted achievements of Ukrainians in America. The Jubilee Book also profiled Ukrainian communities and UNA branches across the United States, beginning with Connecticut and ending with Wisconsin.
It’s no wonder UNA Almanacs are a perennial favorite of readers worldwide – and we do mean worldwide as these books (which these days are mailed to Svoboda subscribers) ultimately reach Ukrainians far and wide. Svoboda has received many letters and e-mails from readers around the globe who have seen and enjoyed the UNA Almanacs online. You can peruse UNA Almanacs, now digitized, on the website of Svoboda (www.svoboda-news.com) by clicking on the link “Aльманахи“ on the left-hand side of the homepage. That will take you to the almanac archives section where, by clicking on an almanac’s cover, you can read to heart’s content.
So, as we mark another UNA anniversary this year – its 121st – it is fitting to pay tribute to UNA Almanacs and their illustrious and hard-working editors who have been enlightening and engaging readers since 1903.