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UKRAINIAN WOMAN OUR ENGLISH COLUMN Looking Back . . . The year 1884 will be remem bered as the actual commence ment of organized activity on the part of women in the Ukraine. It can be likened to a stepping-stone in active feministic movement. Seventy-five years ago the first two women’s organizations were born in two different sections of the Ukraine. The first one was es tablished in Kiev at the Women’s Higher Educational Courses with Olena Dobrohayeva as its head. The second organization, initiated by Natalia Kobrynska, came into being in Stanyslaviv with a pro gram of self-educational and hu manitarian aims. Only five years ago, when cele brating the' seventieth anniver sary of this movement, we had an opportunity to look back and eva luate..-!^ factors. Many informa tive articles and: books appeared which dealt with the principal personages and happenings in the progress towards women’s organ ized life. As yet much remains to be discussed and reviewed hut the necessary material (documents) are denied to us'foelimd the Iron Curtain. Today this 75th anniversary de mands of tis much more than a mere evaluation of the past. The Ukrainian women well realize that this momentous time' expects greater things of them. They must adapt to the necessities of the moment. That is why we ought not be satisfied with our past and present achievements only ; we must face a new chal lenge, — the present situation “here and now,” which poses such problems as the external political conditions, the adaptation of the Ukrainian immigrant to his new environment, and the preserva tion of our culture and tradition. W ith this in mind the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations will hold its Con gress on June 24-27, 1959, in New York. Already delegates from Ar gentina, Venezuela, Australia, Germany, and Canada have an nounced that they will take part in the convention. Many more are expected to arrive. Likewise emi nent guests from the American women’s organizations are ex pected to grace the Congress with their presence. By the way, 1959 marks ten years of WFUWO’s existence (founded by the reso lutions of the 1948 Ukrainian W o men’s Congress in Philadelphia). During these years the organiza tion has succeeded in incorporat ing into its ranks women’s groups of about ten countries. It sketch ed for them a certain plan of ac tion and realized this plan satis factorily. The. theme of the Congress is "The Ukrainian Woman in the Free World.” This suitable slogan delineates also the Congress’ program, since only in the free world can the Ukrainian woman voice her opinion freely, analyze the hardships endured by her sis ters behincUthe Iron Curtain, and speak for them whose lips are sealed by the Soviet regime. ONE POEM The year was 1859 and Taras Shevchenko, the great Ukrainian poet was visiting (after a very long absence) his beloved home land. At that time he was but forty-five years old but already time had laid its marks upon him. He had known a sordid childhood, a tough schooling as a painter’s apprentice, and the hunger and poverty of serfdom. There were some happy moments. He met friends who recognized his great talent for painting and enrolled him at the Academy of Fine Arts. There he tasted his first success; a brilliant future lay ahead of him. But life was intent on crip pling this giant of a man. Sudden ly came his arrest and ultimate exile to Siberia by the Tsa rist regime. He spent ten long years of forced soldiering in a country that was all bleakness and desolation. He endtired ten years of forced silence because he loved his Ukraine and dared to speak up for her rights in his powerful poetry. Needless to say he returned a broken, embittered old man. Now in his native village he met his sister. This was the older sister who, after their mother’s death, took such tender care of little Taras and had been the con stant companion of his childhood games. She was now a premat urely old woman, destroyed by the hard toil of serfdom. These two had shared a similar fate; they had a lo.t to talk about. When leaving, the brother-poet wrote a poem and dedicated it to his .sis-: ter. ' This month, as. we bc>w to ' the memory of the poet-g’en:ius Taras' Shevchenko, we will remember his beautiful poem entitled
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