Fifty-five years ago, on June 27, 1964, some 100,000 Americans and Canadians of Ukrainian descent – and Ukrainians from other parts of the world – witnessed the unveiling of the Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington.
The ceremony featured keynote speaker President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who officially unveiled the monument. President Eisenhower in 1960 signed into law a measure to authorize the erection of the statue.
President Eisenhower stated:
“…Tyranny and oppression today are not different from tyranny and oppression in the days of Taras Shevchenko. Now, as then, tyranny means the concentration of all power in an elite body, in a government bureau, in a single man. It means that the ultimate decisions affecting every aspect of life rest, not with the people themselves, but with tyrants. …Today the same pattern of life exists in the Soviet Union and in all captive nations. Wherever communism rules there is forceful control of thought, of expression, and indeed of every phase of human existence that the state may choose to dominate.
“…In unveiling this memorial to the great 19th century Ukrainian poet we encourage today’s poets in Ukraine, in Eastern Europe and around the world to embody in their poetry mankind’s demands for freedom for self-expression, for national independence and for liberty for all mankind. …It is not merely for today, but for all time to come that we today present to the world this statue of Taras Shevchenko, Bard of Ukraine and Freedom Fighter, to perpetuate man’s faith in the ultimate victory of freedom…”
Prior to the unveiling, 40,000 Ukrainians, who were joined by representatives of captive nations (of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries), led by Col. William Rybak, gathered at the Ellipse (also known as President’s Park South, the walkway within the park is named the Ellipse) located south of the White House and began the three-mile march from the Washington Monument to the Taras Shevchenko monument site, located at the 2200 block of P Street NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The Ukrainian Weekly’s Editor Zenon Snylyk noted of the marchers: “Their faces alighted with joy and excitement in undisguised anticipation of the historic moment that was to come, they seemed to show no signs of travel fatigue nor any concern that the long march [that took four hours] from the Ellipse to the monument site in the sweltering heat would require all of their physical stamina with yet some to be saved for the actual unveiling ceremonies.”
Marchers included uniformed youth groups from Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, the Ukrainian American Youth Association (and its affiliates around the world), Organization of Democratic Ukrainian Youth (ODUM), Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations (SUSTA), Ukrainian Student Organization of Mykola Mikhnovsky (TUSM), Zarevo Ukrainian Student Association and athletic associations. Others from community groups assembled according to states in alphabetical order.
The unveiling ceremony was opened by Prof. Lev E. Dobriansky, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and vice-president of the Shevchenko Memorial Committee of America. The U.S. national anthem was sung by the crowd and an invocation was led by Metropolitan-Archbishop Ambrose Senyshyn of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States. The benediction was led by Metropolitan Ioan (Teodorovych) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A., followed by the singing of the Ukrainian national anthem.
Other notable guests at the unveiling included Bishop Joseph M. Schmodiuk of the Stamford Eparchy and Bishop Jaroslav Gabro of the Chicago Eparchy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church; and Archbishop Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) of the UOC-U.S.A.; Congressmen Michael A. Feighan (D-Ohio), Edward J. Derwinski (R-Ill.), Thaddeus J. Dulski (D-N.Y.), and Daniel J. Flood (D-Pa.); Hollywood actors Jack Palance and Mike Mazurki (both of Ukrainian descent); Miss U.S.A. 1964 Michelle Metrinko (also Ukrainian); and Dr. Stepan Wytwytsky, president of the Ukrainian National Republic in Exile.
The festivities included concerts and a grand banquet at the National Guard Armory, where guest speakers emphasized the significance of Shevchenko, not only for Ukraine, but for America and the free world. At the conclusion of the banquet, Shevchenko Freedom Awards were presented to numerous recipients.
Source: “Shevchenko monument – A ‘new Statue of Liberty’ – unveiled in Washington by Gen. Eisenhower in solemn ceremony,” The Ukrainian Weekly, July 3, 1964.