Turning the pages back... February 22, 1994 (02/21/99)

Turning the pages back...

February 22, 1994

It seems like just yesterday, but it was five years ago that we celebrated the centennial of the Ukrainian National Association, our publisher. We at The Ukrainian Weekly then published a special issue dedicated to that milestone - an edition of which we are particularly proud. Below are excerpts from our centennial editorial titled "With a vision for the future."

* * *

One hundred years ago, 10 brotherhoods, having assets totaling $220 and a total membership of 439, resolved to form the Ukrainian National Association (then known as the Ruskyi Narodnyi Soyuz). They acted on the suggestion of a historic editorial that appeared in Svoboda on November 1, 1893: "Ukrainians scattered across this land need a national organization, namely such a brotherhood, such a national union that would embrace each and every Ukrainian no matter where he lives. ...in unity there is strength, and it is not easily defeated. ..."

On February 22, 1894, the word became deed. The Ruthenian National Association was established. ... As the Ukrainian community in North America grew and prospered, as did the Ukrainian National Association. Today, at 100 years of age, it has assets of $72.5 million and a membership of 64,000. It has grown far, far beyond what it was at the time of its founding. But one thing has remained constant: its devotion to its founding principles. Throughout its history, the UNA has always extended a helping hand to its members, the Ukrainian community in the United States and Canada, Ukrainians wherever they have settled, and to Ukraine.

The UNA has supported countless community causes, from the erection of a monument to Taras Shevchenko in Washington and the creation of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians to the establishment of Ukrainian studies chairs and the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. It has published numerous books, from Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine" to Robert Conquest's "The Harvest of Sorrow."

... Not to be forgotten are the UNA's illustrious endeavors in the field of publishing, its scholarships for college students in the U.S. and Canada, its roles as patron of the arts and promoter of sports, its care for the elderly, and its assistance to needy victims of natural and man-made disasters, be they in the U.S., Ukraine, or any part of the Ukrainian diaspora. With the declaration of Ukraine's independence, the UNA focused on helping the people of that formerly Soviet-dominated land. ...

As it marks the centennial of its humble yet profound beginnings, the UNA is moving ahead in keeping with its anniversary motto: "With reverence for the past, with a vision for the future."

Source: The Ukrainian Weekly, February 20, 1994, special issue commemorating the Ukrainian National Association's 100th anniversary, Vol. LXII, No. 8.

| Home Page |