As readers will see from the front page story in this week’s issue, February 22 marked a homecoming for the Ukrainian National Association. A delegation led by UNA President/CEO Stefan Kaczaraj and Chief Operating Officer/National Secretary Yuriy Symczyk traveled to the city of Shamokin in Pennsylvania to celebrate the founding of the UNA on that exact date 125 years earlier.
As noted in the proclamation hailing the UNA that was presented by Mayor John J. Brown and the City Council, “on February 22, 1894, a group of dedicated community leaders, immigrants from Ukraine gathered together in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, deeply concerned over the plight of their brethren immigrants in their new homeland, America. Hard-working immigrants who found themselves in dangerous working conditions, subject to injury and death, financial hardships, discrimination and bias.” The anniversary proclamation also cited the historic significance of Shamokin “as the birthplace of the Ukrainian National Association – and the foundation of organized community life of Ukrainian Americans in the United States.” (You can read the full text on page 5.)
Shamokin was once the most populous area and the largest trading center within a 60-mile radius of coal country, as pointed out on the city’s official website. Today, due to the decline of the coal industry, Shamokin’s population has decreased to about 18,000, and the city has fallen on tough times. (Upon entering the city, one of the first things the UNA group noticed was banners reading “Wealth through coal” and “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”) The website presents this hopeful statement: “Still, after an 80-year period of decline, the community seeks to find turning a corner to recovery.”
The UNA delegation was warmly greeted by Shamokin officials, and a story about the proclamation’s presentation was prominently featured on the front page of The News-Item on February 23. “City officials honor fraternal Ukrainian National Association; Organization founded in Shamokin 125 years ago,” was the headline on the informative report by Larry Deklinski. Speaking with Mr. Deklinski, a staff photographer/reporter, Mayor Brown commented: “It’s amazing the things that happened in the heyday of Shamokin. …This is just another thing that has come to our attention – that Shamokin is an important place in the history of this country.”
The Rev. Mykola Ivanov, pastor of Transfiguration Ukrainian Catholic Church, told the local newspaper that the founding of the UNA would not have been possible without the church. Indeed, it was church brotherhoods that came together in 1894 to create what became the UNA, and the book “Ukrainian National Association: Its Past and Present” by Anthony Dragan says the Ss. Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, founded in 1887 in Shamokin, “formed the basis of the Ukrainian National Association.” Quite a number of the UNA’s early leaders were affiliated with Transfiguration Parish, which is evident in the jubilee book released for the parish’s centennial in 1984.
City officials promised to include information about Shamokin as the birthplace of the UNA on the city’s official website under the “Our History” section – both the UNA’s founding meeting and its first convention, held just over three months later, on May 30, 1894, were held there. For their part, UNA officers said they wanted to speak further with city officials about the possibility of holding an event in Shamokin to continue celebrations of the 125th anniversary and to pay homage to the pioneers of the oldest and largest Ukrainian fraternal society.
Thus, February 22, 2019, was a sweet homecoming for the UNA.