EDITORIAL: Chronicler, mirror, leader (02/06/00)

EDITORIAL

Chronicler, mirror, leader

Newspapers have been described variously as chroniclers of the times, mirrors of society, leaders of public opinion. Throughout its history, The Ukrainian Weekly - now in its 67th year - has been all of the above.

As the year 1999 drew to a close, we at The Weekly were busy working on our two-volume book, "The Ukrainian Weekly 2000," which will capably demonstrate that the foregoing is true. The books, each nearly 300-pages in length, will encompass the major events covered by The Weekly from 1933 through 1999. Volume 1, scheduled to go to press this month, will cover events between 1933, when The Weekly was founded, through the 1960s. Volume 2, to be released later this year, will cover the 1970s through the 1990s, thus bringing the century to a close.

We are publishing this work to mark the end of one millennium and the beginning of a new one, to show our readers where our community and our nation have been, how their fates have been altered by events of worldwide significance, and how our newspaper and, by extension, Ukrainian Americans and Ukrainian Canadians have reacted. We have prepared this book also in partial response to the inquiries of numerous readers in the past who have asked why there isn't an English-language almanac-type publication akin to the Ukrainian-language UNA Almanac. "The Ukrainian Weekly 2000" is a trial balloon. If the response to this project is solid, we will try to publish annual compilations of materials on diverse topics. To be totally honest, we have undertaken this book project for yet another reason: to raise funds for The Weekly (we hope to make a profit on this venture and thereby support our newspaper).

Volume 1 will contain contemporaneous reports on topics such as: the Great Famine of 1932-1933; the Polish pacification campaign of the 1930s, the first Congress of American Ukrainians (1940), the German invasion of Ukraine during World War II (1941), the arrival of displaced persons in the United States (beginning in 1949), the first major tour of North America by the Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus (1950), Ukrainian Americans' protests against Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev as he visited the United States (1960), the dedication of the Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington (1964) and the first World Congress of Free Ukrainians (1967). It will offer a snapshot of our community at various stages in its existence, covering such activities as Loyalty Day parades, major cultural presentations, observances of Captive Nations Week, etc. In addition, readers will appreciate the insightful commentaries on U.S. diplomatic recognition of the USSR, developments as World War II approached and then escalated, the repatriation of Ukrainian refugees, the establishment of the United Nations and other turning points.

The second volume of The Ukrainian Weekly 2000, on which we have already begun work, will cover such milestones as the announcement of the new Canadian policy of multiculturalism (1971), the founding of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group (1976), the attempted defection of Ukrainian sailor Myroslav Medvid in New Orleans (1985), the Chornobyl nuclear disaster (1986), the Millennium of Christianity of Rus'-Ukraine (1988), and, of course, the proclamation of the independence of Ukraine in 1991. (But more on that volume later.)

Because of the unique nature of the materials they contain, both volumes are certain to become a resource for researchers as well as keepsakes for readers.

Our hope is that readers will welcome "The Ukrainian Weekly 2000" (all subscribers to the newspaper will automatically receive copies, and orders will be accepted by our administrative offices) and that they will find its contents as interesting as The Weekly's staffers did as we read through fascinating back issues of our newspaper and selected what we believed to be the most significant articles of the past century.

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