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 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
Calendar
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
72-73
74-75
76-77
78-79
80-81
82-83
84-85
86-87
88-89
90-91
92-93
94-95
96-97
98-99
100-101
102-103
104-105
106-107
108-109
110-111
112-113
114-115
116-117
118-119
120-121
122-123
124-125
126-127
128-129
130-131
132-133
134-135
136-137
138-139
140-141
142-143
144-145
146-147
148-149
150-151
152-153
154-155
156-157
158-159
160-161
162-163
164-165
166-167
168-169
170-171
172-173
174-175
176-177
178-179
180-181
182-183
184-185
186-187
188-189
190-191
192-193
194-195
196-197
198-199
200-201
202-203
204-205
206-207
208-209
210-211
212-213
214-215
216-217
218-219
220-221
222-223
224-225
226-227
228-229
230-231
232-233
234-235
236-237
238-239
240-241
242-243
244-245
246-247
248-249
250-251
252-253
254-255
256-257
258-259
260-261
262-263
264-265
266-267
268-269
270-271
272-273
274-275
276-277
278-279
280-281
282-283
284-285
286-287
288-289
290-291
292-293
294-295
296-297
298-299
300-301
302-303
304-305
306-307
308-309
310-311
312-313
314-315
316-317
318-319
320-321
322-323
324-325
326-327
328-329
330-331
332-333
334-335
336-337
338-339
340-341
342-343
344-345
346-347
348-349
350-351
352-353
354-355
356-357
358-359
360-361
362-363
364-365
366-367
368-369
370-371
372-373
374-375
376-377
378-379
380-381
382-383
384-385
386-387
388-389
390-391
392-393
394-395
396-397
398-399
400-401
MARTA BOHACHEVSKY-CHOMIAK VICE PRESIDENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS This has been an exciting time to be active in community affairs of the Ukrainian American society and I thank you for the opportunity to contribute my share to the rebirth of Ukraine. The Ukrainian National women’s League of America was founded not only to provide for our needs, that is the needs of the Americans for whatever reason interested in Ukrainian matters, but also to help Ukrainian women have a window to the world. During the existence of the Soviet Union there were to all intents and purposes no Ukrainian women’s organizations in Ukraine. Ukrainian women emerged through their work, often cultural, often handiwork. There were times when it seemed that Ukraine was mute, except for its pysanky, its em broidery, its songs. Literary works also provided a glimpse into the true society. Hence, for persons of Ukrainian origin, culture, cultural affairs, literature, artifacts, crafts, handiwork and art have a particular meaning. It is never for us high brow or elitist, but on the contrary one way of keeping the umbilical tie with our ancestors, our distant past. Thus, while in English even the term “cultural affairs” sounds slightly strange, for those of us with a long experience in Ukrainian community affairs, culture is very much a part of our life. We often defined ourselves in terms of that culture and used it to explain to others who we were. Our organization often represented the Ukrainians who could not speak for themselves. In the last four years this is changing. Ukraine is speaking for itself through its government, its own community organiza tions, and its own women’s organizations with which the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America maintains friendly con-* tacts. We have been offering some help in the development of organizations and pro grams, and sharing information on working within the broad context of the UN and the world of women’s organizations. I have tried to keep our membership informed of what is going on in the cultural life of Ukraine, and of some interesting developments by my columns in Our Life. I have also used my academic contacts, and contacts with other women’s organizations, to promote the study of Ukrainian women, as well as Ukrainian-American organizations. That has taken up much of my time. A major part of my duties has been to convene the jury for the Kovaliv prize and oversee the award of that honor. These generous awards were left at the bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Petro and Lesia Kovaliv. They lived in Switzerland, and decided that the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America was best suited to administer the prizes. They liked our supra-party stand, our tradition of probity, our reputation for scru pulous honesty, and felt that the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America would be able to oversee that the best works on Ukrainian would be honored through their prizes. The jury that chose the scholarly work awarded the Kovaliv Prize for 1994 was com posed of Professors Zenovia Sochor, Clark University, and Myroslava Znaenko, Rutgers University, and Dr. Marta Cehelsky, the Na tional Academy of Sciences. Alexander Mortyl’s Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine After Totalitarianism , published by the Coun cil on Foreign Relations, was considered the most influential work on a Ukrainian topic published in the last two years. Professor Motyl teaches at Columbia University. The literary work chosen by a jury composed of Professors John Fizer of Rutgers and Yuri Luckyj, Emeritus at University of Toronto, and Dr. Laryssa Onyshkevych of the Princeton Forum will be announced at our Convention in Philadelphia in May, 1996. I have enjoyed my work as the Cultural Affairs officer at the Ukrainian National Wo men’s League of America, and I want to thank all of you for your support throughout the years. I will continue to write to Our Life, and I will cherish the memories of our joint efforts for our organization, our members, and the country from which our ancestors came. A Brief History of Vice Presidency of Cultural Affairs Culture is a fluid concept and this part of the work of the National Women’s League of America has always carried the imprint of the person holding the office. 53 www.unwla.org
Page load link
Go to Top
