It’s a tradition for this newspaper to publish an annual editorial on the occasion of yet another anniversary of its founding. But this year marks The Weekly’s 85th anniversary – a significant milestone in the history of a newspaper that has honorably, reliably and steadfastly served the Ukrainian community here in North America and Ukrainians worldwide.
The Ukrainian Weekly has been published continuously since its first issue rolled off the presses in Jersey City, N.J., on October 6, 1933 – the result of a wise decision made by the Ukrainian National Association to offer this fraternal benefit in addition to the Ukrainian-language newspaper Svoboda (then a daily). The two newspapers are among the most important contributions that our publisher, the UNA, has made to its members and the entire Ukrainian diaspora.
The Weekly was born with a dual mission: to inform the English-speaking world about the Great Famine of 1932-1933 that was decimating the population of Ukraine, and to keep new generations of Ukrainians born in America in touch with and involved in Ukrainian community life. It was the initiative of Svoboda Editor-in-Chief Luke Myshuha, who told delegates to the 1933 UNA Convention that the Ukrainian youth needed a news forum of their own. The Weekly’s first editor was Stephen Shumeyko, all of 25 years old, who knew there was a place within the Ukrainian nation for those who, though they might not know the Ukrainian language, had a Ukrainian heart and soul. And Shumeyko fervently believed that the new publication had a most important role: to instill in its young readers “the idea that as Americans of Ukrainian descent they are duty-bound to help their kinsmen in foreign-occupied and oppressed Ukraine to win the national freedom for which they have been fighting and sacrificing for so many years.”
In its first year of its existence The Weekly published much documentation about the Holodomor and memoranda opposing U.S. recognition of the USSR. It strove to counter Soviet disinformation and news reports by some journalists – most prominently Walter Duranty of The New York Times – that denied the Famine. The Weekly of 1933 also reported on the Ukrainian American community, which by then had the self-confidence to speak out about its concerns and show off its culture. For example, the new paper covered Ukrainians protesting the U.S. decision to recognize the Soviet Union. It reported on the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933, where the Ukrainian Pavilion – the only one not financed by a government – proudly introduced countless visitors to the rich Ukrainian heritage.
Fast forward to 2018. The Ukrainian Weekly has now published nearly 4,400 issues. It has reported major news developments, such as the erection of the Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington, the founding of the National Movement of Ukraine (Rukh), the re-establishment of Ukraine’s independence and the dedication of the Holodomor Memorial in Washington. In fact, The Weekly’s Ukrainian American journalists were on the ground in Ukraine since January 1991 – even before the historic declaration of the independence of Ukraine on August 24 of that year. (And we were the first to publish an English-language translation of that document.) Today our newspaper is available in print and online. Our digital archives include all the issues of The Weekly published from day one. (Explore them at www.ukrweekly.com – access to the years 1933-2017 is free.)
As we mark the 85th anniversary of the founding of The Ukrainian Weekly, we thank all of our loyal subscribers who’ve been supporting our work and thus demonstrating their belief that this newspaper of the Ukrainian community is important to the functioning – and, indeed, existence of that community. We hope to be serving our community for many more years to come, thus fulfilling the noble mission set by The Weekly’s founders back in 1933.