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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛИСТОПАД 2015 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 13 Speech at the Banquet on the Occasion of the UNWLA’s 90th Anniversary Esteemed Guests, This year the Ukrainian National Women's League of America celebrates its 90th anniversary. For all of these ninety years, the UNWLA has been successful in uniting women of Ukrainian descent in the USA and leading numerous cultural, education- al, and charitable projects in Ukrainian communi- ties in America. As the largest and the oldest inde- pendent organization of Ukrainian women in the United States, the UNWLA has always approached its tasks and goals with strong convictions, perse- verance, and sincerity. We extend a sincere welcome to our Honor- ary President, Iryna Kurowyckyj, our Honorary Members (please stand up), and all of our members: each of you is here today because of your love for and dedication to our organization! At this gather- ing tonight, we acutely feel the absence of the UN- WLA Scholarships Committee Chairwoman, Maria Polanskyj, who is ill: we miss her and pray for her. We are very grateful to ALL the members of our di- aspora organizations who joined us in this historic celebration. Thank you! This anniversary is a good occasion to re- member our beginnings and to ponder this ques- tion: how does it happen that an organization that unites women of Ukrainian descent in the United States can exist, prosper, change with the times, achieve such wonderful goals, and at the same time unite what by now are four generations of Ukraini- ans? Understanding the sources of our success will help us be better prepared for the future. So why do we continue to exist? It is because the UNWLA demonstrates devo- tion, dedication, patriotism, empathy, compassion, and camaraderie. It is because the UNWLA offers its members a sense of belonging, pride, self-realization, and con- tinuity . It is because the UNWLA is a reflection of the Ukrainian soul, heart, and culture. Who were those women who stood at the be- ginnings of our organization? The first founders came from the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants, who emigrated from Ukraine before World War I seeking to improve their social and economic status, as well as from the second wave of migration in the interwar period. The latter wave included political immigrants who fled Ukraine after the defeat of sev- eral Ukrainian Governments in 1918-1920. As lead- ers, these women made use of the knowledge they already had about the United States and strove to find their legal place as an organization of Ukrainian diaspora. Olena Lototska, who had served as the UNWLA President for twenty-five years, wrote with amazement about the meetings of the first UNWLA branches to which Soyuzianky would come at the end of the long working day together with their children because they could not find nannies. Lototska noted that these women had a great desire to come to these meetings to connect with other people with their own roots. The die was cast, and their joint efforts moved them forward. So when the next, so-called “third wave” of immigration landed on the shores of the United States, many great events in the history of the UNWLA were already taking place: Ukrainian art exhibitions were being held, connections were being established, much work was being done to inform non-Ukrainians about Ukraine, much aid was being sent to Ukraine, protests in support of the Ukrainian population in Poland were being organized, the first medical aid fund had already been established, and the First Ukrainian Women's Congress had already con- vened. One must also mention the UNWLA’s partic- ipation in the World’s Fair in Chicago, its massive information campaign to disseminate the terrible news about the famine in Ukraine, its protest mani- festations to demand justice for the Ukrainian peo- ple, and the creation of the first UNWLA Regional Council in Detroit. When World War II broke out and the Ukrainian people were condemned to si- lence, the UNWLA took on the vital mission of being the voice of Ukraine in the free world! It is impossible to do justice to the UNWLA’s multi-faceted work and its life experiences at that time! Assistance to refugees, creation of the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, with whom the UNWLA began to cooperate officially, and the first issues of the UNWLA’s publication Our Life ... The UNWLA also laid the groundwork for the crea- tion of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations (WFUWO). In the 1950s, many Ukra- inian immigrants were arriving in the United States and UNWLA members always welcomed the new- comers. They even established a dormitory for wid- ows with children in order to help the newcomers... Women of this newly arrived immigration, whose formation occurred in Ukraine and through the experience of camp life, did not join the ranks of the UNWLA right away, but later there was an in- flux of new members and new branches were estab-
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