Let’s begin this week’s editorial by posing a couple of questions to our readers. Have you visited the online archives of The Ukrainian Weekly (www.ukrweekly.com)? How about those of our sister publication, the Ukrainian-language newspaper Svoboda (svoboda-news.com)?
If you haven’t, you should make time to take a look. You won’t be disappointed, we promise. In fact, you are likely to be quite surprised and highly impressed. Why? Svoboda’s archives begin with its very first issue published on September 15, 1893. Yes, 1893! That’s not a typo. And The Weekly’s begin with its premiere issue dated October 6, 1933. That’s 23,260 issues of Svoboda and 4,399 of The Weekly. They’re all there for you to peruse thanks to the incredible work done by our webmaster and digital archivist, Ihor Pylypchuk. It also helped that we received generous donations from several community institutions and an anonymous donor, all of whom are acknowledged online as sponsors of the archives.
These digital archives are freely accessible to anyone. Just go to the menu items atop our websites to see the section labeled “PDF archives” (for Svoboda – “PDF архів”). These sections encompass Svoboda issues from 1893 through 2015, and Weekly issues for 1933 through 2014. For more recent issues, go to the section called “Latest issues” (for Svoboda – “Останні числа”). What’s even more significant is the fact they these online treasures are searchable.
And there’s even more on our websites. Svoboda’s site also includes digital versions of all UNA Almanacs from 1903 through 2018, as well as the children’s magazine Veselka, published since September 1954 through its last issue, dated May-June 1995. A number of valuable historical books also appear there in digitized format. (See the relevant links atop the webpage.) The Weekly’s website includes the two-volume compilation of the most significant stories published from 1933 through 2000 titled ‘The Ukrainian Weekly 2000” and the collection of articles chronicling Ukraine’s drive toward independent statehood and the first decade of its independence titled “Ukraine Lives!” (Look for the “Books” link at the bottom of the webpage.) These materials, too, are freely available to web visitors.
One of our biggest fans is Vakhtang Kipiani, the editor-in-chief of the eminent online publication Istorychna Pravda and founder of the Museum-Archives of the Ukrainian Press in Kyiv. Mr. Kipiani, a historian and journalist, has repeatedly cited Svoboda’s online archives in his research, calling them priceless. Most recently, he praised them during a presentation about Istorychna Pravda’s ongoing and new projects at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey.
An example of how our archives have been successfully utilized appeared in 2013 in a letter from a member of the once very active group called the Committee for the Defense of Soviet Political Prisoners. The CDSPP, formed in 1972 and active until the early 1980s, was in the process of collecting materials for its archives. Sadly, due to a fire, much of that information had been destroyed. The CDSPP then decided to search in the digital archives of The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda. “A search through your online site revealed a wealth of information. It turns out that we accomplished much more than we remembered! In addition, reading through the past issues of these newspapers gave us leads to other sources and publications, which has further enriched our archive. Truly, without the two newspapers, we would not have been able to retrace our steps so thoroughly,” Marusya Proskurenko wrote.
We often use our online archives to search for information when preparing historical materials, such as the current series of “Snapshots from history” celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Ukrainian National Association.
To those who’ve delved into them, it’s clear: the value of our digital archives is inestimable. We invite you to discover that for yourselves.