Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
UNWLA 100
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2024
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40-41
42-43
44-45
46-47
48-49
50-51
52-53
54-55
56-57
58-59
60-61
62-63
64-65
66-67
68-69
70-71
72
OUR LIFE Monthly, published by Ukrainian National Women’s League of America VOL XVI MARCH-APRIL 1984 IVANNA ROZANKOWSKY ARCHIVES OF THE UKRAINIAN WOMEN’S EQUAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. The women’s movement for equal rights in American began at the onset of the 19th century and set a broad goal to permeate every aspect of the existing social structure. Dependent upon changing economic, political and social conditions, the movement saw periods of dormancy as well as renewed activity. Its history, growth, achievements, hopes and aspirations, were duly recorded in the writings of women who pioneered and served its cause. It was further reflected in biographies of such noted persons and detailed in the press throughout the years. The mid-1960’s saw a vigorous rebirth of the move ment, its debates achieving permanency in countless books, on pages of magazines and newspapers. All the available data concerning women’s equal rights move ment in America is well documented and readily availa ble. Many institutions of higher learning, among them the prestigious Smith College, have designated special sections in their libraries addressing this issue. The time has come for us in the National Women’s League of America to take stock of our modest collec tion of information pertaining to the history of the Ukrai nian women’s equal rights struggle. Our sources are limited, yet an all out effort must be made to gather all available data. Our primary source, our native Ukraine, is out of our reach. Much valuable information has been lost there during the two wars and their aftermath, unin tentionally or by design. In Ukrainian communities scat tered around the world today, printed materials which appeared between the turn of the century and the Second World War are hard to come by. Without doubt there are individuals who have in their possession periodicals, pamphlets, newspapers, and books which would add immesurably to the historical data we so sorely lack. It must be realized that only a concentrated, unified effort can shed a ture perspective on the great achievements of Ukrainian women in their struggle for equality. In retrospect of historical activity, one hundred years is a relatively short span of time. Generations succeed generations, passing on rememberances of important events, important people. To this end personal memoirs, letters, photographs and other memorabilia are also a vital source of information pertinent to our search. One by one our elders pass away, many who were activists in the women’s equal rights forum, yet leave no written record of their participation. Sometimes, by chance, a child or grandchild of such a person will divulge a bit of history the mother or grandmother had told. By pin pointing these illusive sources, invaluable information can be gathered. The contributions of Ukrainian women to the cultu ral and social growth and development of the Ukrainian nation is largely omitted, or at best fragmentally menti oned in the hallowed pages of our historical volumes. The Ukrainian Encyclopedia devotes only three pages to the women’s equal rights endeavor, while detailing the history of youth organizations throughout eleven pages. The English version of the Encyclopedia makes no men tion of the women’s movement at all, except for summar ily listing a few women’s organizations in the general text. Sketchy information, partial biographical data and unfulfilled historical input has obviously served as the source for the encyclopedia researcher. While many may fume at this state of events, the underlying cause of this factual void in our publications is the lack of a com piled, detailed history of the Ukrainian women’s equal rights movement. Libraries offer many books dealing with women’s struggle for recognition and equality in various coun tries of the world - nothing is mentioned about Ukrain ian women. It is our fervent hope that the much awaited work, in English, by Marta Chomiak, recounting the his tory of the efforts of the Ukrainian women to achieve parity in the social structure, will serve as a fountain of information and reference. It should also be noted that various Ukrainian publications contain articles written by women activists - these writings should be compiled and published collectively. Many of these articles should be translated into English. In biographical texts, English or other languages, Ukrainian women leaders, heroines, writers, artists and scholars are not mentined, although women of other nationalities are noted. In 1972 UNWLA formed a com mittee responsible for gathering biographical data con cerning notable Ukrainian women from the earliest peri ods of our history. A large quantity of material was collected, but professional expertise was lacking to make proper use of it. Surely the time has arrived when such an undertaking could be realized. The jubilee issue of OUR LIFE magazine contains a storehouse of literary contributions taken from various periods in the history of Ukrainian women’s pursuit of equal rights. Some writings may be remembered, others are gems only recently rediscovered, yet never pub lished. They mirror the past with shining examples of noble aspirations and achievements, while setting guide lines for future generations of Ukrainian women to follow. Translated by M. Baczynsky
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40-41 
42-43 
44-45 
46-47 
48-49 
50-51 
52-53 
54-55 
56-57 
58-59 
60-61 
62-63 
64-65 
66-67 
68-69 
70-71 
72 
