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HELEN MURAL, Junior Vice-President UNWLA, Contributing Editor, OUR LIFE I Am An American Of Ukrainian Descent ■Stunned, Olya for a moment could not find words to answer her -closest college friends at a reunion dinner. With bewilder ment :she stammered, “I never у for one moment forget that first of all I am an American! P>e^n 11 I 3ni active Partici pant in Ukrainian activities, that does not^ mean that I al ienate myself *from the land of my birth.” Darlene, Odge and- Billie -ex changed glances and Darlene replied, “We are not infer- ing, Olya that you do not consider yourself an American. What we cannot understand is why you have segregated your self into one distinct national-1 ity group? There are many strictly American' organizations to which you can belong for' release of your surplus eiler- Though the subject had caught heV totally unprepared, Olya attempted to formulate hurriedly points that would im press her college friends of the wisdom she felt was hers in having selected the stand of an American Ukrainian. As she pohaered she could ndt help chuckling inwardly as she re peal led that it was not too long ago that she had been placed in a similar position of the defen sive. Only then the situation still he,ar the sarcasm in the still hear the^ sarcasim in the1 tone of an immigrant who* chid ed her with “So this is the girl who is an American first.” It was this Ukrainian immigrant who demanded to know why ;she could not speak, read and' write in Ukrainian, why she was not doing more for the Uk: rainian cause. Now the demand was being made to know why she was not working complete ly with American groups. With amusement and yet a feeling of having stumbled on to a conclusion of the utmost im portance which had been before her all along unrecognized Olya knew suddenly that she was an individual who could not say, “I am an American,” without hur riedly adding “of Ukrainian de scent.” Nor could she ever say "“I am an Ukrainian.” To divorce American from Ukrainian or Ukrainian from American would leave her only a shamble of her true self. ‘'■'Well, Darlene, I suppose there is a basis for the doubt that exists in your mind. How ever, if your parents had come from the old country like your grandparents, I do not think there would be need for me to answer you. But that is beside the point at issue. Let's start’ with this. Why is it that O'dge’s father belongs to the Bankers' Association and is a member of the Union League?” “Oh, but that is different,”' Odge interjected. “Why, do you co.nisider that so different? Your dad being a banker associates, with bankers because he hks things in com mon with them. He belongs to the Union League for the same reason.” “But I do not believe that that' is the crux of 'the problem,” Olya added.. “It is something far more intense. With an attempt to find her words carefully she continued, “It - goes way back to the time in history -vMren peoples sick of ireligious and political persecutions set out on a haz ardous journey to cross the ocean to found a country on de mocratic principles where there would be freedom from persecu tion. There is no need to elabo rate ; we all know our history.” “I know what you are trying' to say,” Billie said. “What you mean is that the United States is a melting pot of all nationali ties and that in the spirit of de mocracy, all nationality groups are free to organize and to so cialize as long as they uphold the .doctrines of this country.” Olya brightened at this and with emotion quickly added, “Yes, that is it. Why the U. S. government itself encourages nationality .groups and all over the U.S. you’ll 'find such organi zations as the International In stitute and Folk Councils that are ruin primarily by Americans to encourage the recognition of the cultures of all nationalities. The United States does not want us to forget folk dances, needlecr^fts, and what nots. We add to culture of the country as a whole when we foster the culture of the land of our ances try.” “Now that you mention it, I remember reading somewhere where Woodrow Wilson once told a group f new immigrants that the United States did not want them to forget the culture of the land of their birth and the nation of his origin—these things are very sacred and ought not to be put out of our hearts,” Odge interposed. “And further, gals, we Uk rainians do not isolate ourselves from the world. We cooperate with many what you term strictly American organizations and have loads of fun doing this. But let me remind you, I am al ways an American first, but of Ukrainian descent, naturally.” “Okay, Olya. You win,” laugh - ingly retorted Darlene. • ч Subscribe to Our Life " T h e Story o f Ukraine ?5> “Did you say that you are of Ukrainian descent? Never heard of Ukrainians before. Who are they?” Such a statement is not received with great surprise by most of us for we long ago have learned that a majority of peo ple in the United States are either totally unaware of the existence of a Ukraine or vague ly refer to it as Russia. If we American Ukrainians do not ourselves know the heart breaking yet gallant history of the land of our ancestry, should we hope that peoples of other nationalities will troble to learn this same history? Clarence Manning, Assistant Professor of East European Languages, Columbia University has written a nori-prejudiced treatise entitled “The Story of Ukraine.” In a series of articles, “Our Life” will attempt to bring “The Story of Ukraine” to its readers. Professor Manning commenc es his dissertation on Ukraine by stating that the land which has as its natural barriers the Black Sea on the south, the Car pathian mountains on the west and the Don River on the east has often been referred to as the granary of Europe. To the north there is no natural barri er, and as a consequence has changed with the passing centu ries. The Ukraine with an area of more than 200,’000 square miles and a population of about forty million people is a rich country; rich in the fertile soil which has given it the name of the granary basket of Europe and rich in the almost inexhaus tible supply of mineral resourc es. But this is not all. Ukraine’s enviable location is at the cross roads of the world. Even before history was recorded, nomad tribes traveling westward from central Asia found Ukraine a natural highway to Europe. Fa- vored not only with this natural highway from east to west, from north to south of ^Ukraine flow all the great rivers that empty into the Black Sea such as the Dnieper, the Don and the Dniester Rivers. These key riv ers make access to the Mediter ranean through the Dardanelles. With all of these assets it is not surprising that Ukraine ‘during the Byzantine EmpJre was» a strong, independent, ricti state. Professor Manning describes the inhabitants of Ukraine as a group of thrifty, industrious people who have always shown their love of liberty in war and in peace. He feels that the great est weakness-, past &nd present* of Ukrainians is their inability to organize and unite for a com mon cause. It has been difficult to maintciih common drives be tween the people inhabiting the mountain regions and the inha bitants of the plains. Time and again in the history of Ukraine, the cities were unable to> domi nate the country. “The Ukrainian spirit is not yet free but it has proved itself imperishable in the past and it wifF continue to remain so in the future.” MONTH’S WASH Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. John Hamm who welcom ed the stork a week * before Christmas. It’s a girl. A »bit of gossip from Cleve land: Mildred Barylski and Do rothy MuraU are* anti-social these days—only because finals at Flora Store Mather College have them chewing nails again. Dorothy Czubinsky has beeii walking on a cloud since she and her folks moved into their very lovely new home. Helen Darus is just as happyx. . . over her engagement to Nick Boyko. No one was surprised when the an nouncement was made. Saw Sonia Bilon in Pitts burgh. She’s stepping right into all the Uke activities iii her new surroundings. Wonder if she could be prevailed upon to or ganize a Jr. League? ^trs. Bi lon, you know, has always tak en an interest in Soyuz Ukrai nok. Orchids to Stephanie Wochok of Philadelphia. Recently a Jr. Committee of the iPhiladelphia Federation of Women’s Clubs and Allied O'rganizations was formed. Stephanie was appoint ed Stecretary-Tvreasurer of this Jr. Committee. We need more participation in allied non-Uk rainian organizations similar to the Philadelphia Federation. (That’s the way we let ’em learn of our existence). Mrs. Emily Bilecky of Cleve land will be busy for the next ten weeks teaching mothers of a Parent-Teachers Association how to do Ukrainian embroid ery. A gay time was had by Br. 61 at the annual Christmas Par ty held at the home of Mrs. Sophie Czarnecki of Detroit. Do the girls still talk a mile a minute about babies, cake.s, re frigerators and diets? GENEVIEVE ZEPKO ZEREBNIAK ANNOUNCES CONVENTION SITE Mrs. Genevieve Zepko Zcreb- niak, Advisor of the UYL-NA and chairman of the Convention Committee announced in Pitts burgh that the site for the La bor Day Week-end Convention of UYLNA will be New York City. Mrs. Zerebniak is very active in the Ukrainian Jr. League in Akron, was instru mental in organizing this branch.
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