Highlights from the UNA's 110-year history (08/15/04)

Highlights from the UNA's 110-year history

A special yearlong feature focusing on the history of the Ukrainian National Association.

"Remember the past - look to the future" was the motto for the UNA's 28th Convention, which took place in Philadelphia on May 20-25, 1974, with 426 delegates participating.

On the eve of the convention - held during the UNA's 80th anniversary year - convention organizers put on a Dance Festival featuring six top Ukrainian folk dance ensembles from the United States and Canada.

UNA membership as of the end of 1973 stood at 89,119 members; and a pre-convention organizing drive encouraged branch secretaries and organizers to do their utmost so that the figure of 90,000 could be reached by the end of the jubilee year.

Total assets of the UNA at the time of the 28th Convention were $38,815,133.53. It was reported that since the previous convention the UNA had sent $5,000 in aid to Ukrainians in Yugoslavia affected by the earthquake in that country, nearly $14,000 to UNA members in flood-ravaged areas in Pennsylvania and New York state; and had spent over $310,000 on publishing the two-volume "Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia."

Among the convention's most important decisions was the establishment of the post of supreme organizer as a member of the Executive Committee; and the creation of the title of honorary member of the Supreme Assembly, which would be reserved for those members of the assembly who had served at least 12 years, subject to nomination by the Auditing Committee and approval by convention delegates. As well, delegates voted to lower the age at which a UNA member could become a convention delegate from 21 to 18, and to become a supreme officer from 24 to 21.

The convention approved nearly $18,000 in donations to various Ukrainian institutions and organizations, and voted a sum of $9,000 for human rights defense efforts, with the latter amount coming from the delegates themselves who donated $20 each to promote human rights in Ukraine.

Joseph Lesawyer was re-elected to his fourth term as supreme president; Stefan Hawrysz was elected for the newly created post of supreme organizer.

John Odezynsky, a candidate for supreme advisor, asked for and received a recount of the vote totals which showed him as losing by one vote for the 14th, or last, spot on the Supreme Assembly. As a result of a recount by a specially designated committee, it was announced that Mr. Odezynsky and Eugene Iwanciw had tied in the number of votes received. The committee decided that the methods of selection for that post should be determined by the two candidates. A compromise was reached whereby Mr. Odezynsky served the first two years of the term, and Mr. Iwanciw served the last two years.

The recount committee also found some irregularities in the voting for other positions on the Supreme Assembly, as a result of which some candidates lost as many as 14 votes, while others gained as many as 26. However, none of the altered vote totals affected the ultimate outcome of the elections.

A highlight of the convention was the address delivered by George Bush, then chairman of the Republican National Committee. On the other side of the aisle, Basil Paterson, deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also addressed the assemblage.

Source: "Joseph Lesawyer re-elected UNA supreme president. Dr. John Flis elected vice-president, Sen. Paul Yuzyk is re-elected director for Canada and Mary Dushnyck again chosen vice-president, Walter Sochan and Ulana Diachuk re-elected by acclamation for secretary and treasurer, Stepan Hawrysz chosen for new post of supreme organizer, convention votes $18,000 for national causes, $15,000 for scholarships, adopts series of resolutions and recommendations," The Ukrainian Weekly, May 29, 1974; "Announcement of UNA Convention and Elections Committee Presidiums," The Ukrainian Weekly, June 8, 1974; and "Ukrainian-American Citadel: The First 100 Years of the Ukrainian National Association," by Myron B. Kuropas, Boulder, Colo.: East European Monographs, 1996. The border used for this special feature is reproduced from a UNA membership certificate dating to 1919.

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