"Ukrainian-American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history (Chapter 4) (07/04/04)

THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

"Ukrainian-American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history

Following is part of a series of excerpts from "Ukrainian-American Citadel: The First 100 Years of the Ukrainian National Association," by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, published in 1996 by East European Monographs of Boulder, Colo. The excerpts are reprinted with the permission of the author. The book is available from the author for $25, plus $2.50 shipping, by writing to: Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115.

Chapter 4

The Americanization Process

Although Ukrainization was the first educational priority of the RNS [as the UNA was then called] and Svoboda, Americanization was not ignored. The United States offered Rusyn immigrants educational opportunities unthinkable in the old country, Svoboda often argued. "Let's Americanize" through self-improvement, urged the RNS gazette. "Let's be critical of that which is bad in America but by all means let's take advantage of that which is good." ...

In 1894, Svoboda described the United States as a land where "everyone has the freedom to learn and to write and to become enlightened through books." Having adopted such an attitude from its inception, the RNS gazette was exceptionally critical of the typical peasant's apathetic approach to learning. "Read, read, read. It is very important," urged Svoboda. The RNS did more than just preach, however, and that same year the RNS and Svoboda announced the publication of a Self-Teacher and Dictionary for American Rusyns.

Svoboda rarely minced its words in addressing the shortcomings of the Rusyn-American community. Exhortations to improve were often brutally frank: "Some people say that if Rusyns had their liberty, how nice life would be ... we take the opposite view.... Our people don't need liberty. First they must have enlightenment and schooling."

In a series of articles that appeared between October 7 and November 21, 1895, and again in 1896, Svoboda emphasized that "Our indifference is the sole cause of our backwardness in the United States. ... Negroes have seven colleges, 17 academies and 50 high schools in America. And what do Rusyns have? ... Seven lazy layers of skins." Comparing Rusyns to Slovaks in the United States, Svoboda declared: "Hey Brother Rusyns! Our brother Slovaks already have a national home, schools, a hospital and a printing press. And we don't even have enough money to send a student for a higher education. Whose people are we?" On March 22, 1900, Svoboda began publishing a Ukrainian-English dictionary and a U.S. fact sheet.

Critical of Rusyn reluctance to participate and to take advantage of the many benefits life in the United States had to offer, Svoboda wrote: "American life and the life of the American Rusyn are two separate worlds. ... It is clear that we are Americans because we live on American soil, we eat American bread. ... We are Americans for the purpose of sending that dollar to the old country. ... We are Americans also in order to buy a keg of beer and a quart of whiskey for the dollar."

In a 1905 article titled "Sumni Visti" (Sad News), the author indentifed illiteracy, alcoholism and a lack of education as the major problems facing the community. ...

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Americanization process was RNS and Svoboda support for trade unionism in the United States. Like Father [Ivan] Wolansky before them, the American Circle urged America's Rusyns to become active in the fledgling union movements in order to protect their economic interests. On April 13, 1894, Svoboda wrote about the "poverty-stricken status of workers" in the United States. A few months later, Svoboda elaborated:

"A number of English-American newspapers, servants of capitalism, are bleating that the owners of coal mines should not raise the pay of striking coal miners but rather, they should hire Negroes who are willing to work for lower wages. What terrible speculation over human sweat and blood! ... Once Irishmen and Englishmen were making $5 a day as miners, but today a poor Hungarian or Slav - Pole, Rusyn, Slovak - is expected to work for 75 cents a day."

Between 1895 and 1898, Svoboda devoted much space to articles related to labor conditions in the United States under titles such as "Labor Affairs," "Labor Movement" (an irregular column which reviewed job opportunities throughout the United States) and "Labor News."

Svoboda also featured translations of the articles and speeches of socialist Eugene V. Debs (May 13 and August 5, 1897) - arguing that since Debs declared that strikes were protests against tyranny in the tradition of Patrick Henry, George Washington and John Hancock, to better one's economic life was an American manifestation worthy of emulation by Rusyns. Labor-oriented articles with titles such as "On the Past and Present of the American Worker" (April 15, 1897); "Who Lives From What?," a Polish article on economics translated by Father [Stephen] Makar (April 28, 1898); and an editorial titled "Workers of all Nationalities Unite" (September 23, 1897) were all examples of Svoboda's support for labor union activity. When all else failed, Svoboda argued, strikes were the only protection workers had against exploitation by unscrupulous industrialists. In a March 1, 1900, Svoboda article, Father [Pavlo] Tymkevych compared labor unions to religious and fraternal brotherhoods. ...

Political power was another objective of the RNS and its organ Svoboda. Urging its readers to become active in American political affairs, Svoboda promoted the establishment of political clubs which could someday organize themselves into a national federation. "Having few opportunities to organize in the old country," observed Svoboda, "we were poor politicians. But here we have no excuse."

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