By Sydney Armstrong
Religious and secular. Ancient and modern. Mystical and practical. These traits make up Ukrainian culture and the community it serves.
The first wave of Ukrainian settlers emigrated to Chicago in the late nineteenth century, putting down roots in the city sometime in the 1880’s. They were, for the most part, peasants, illiterate and rooted to the land. They were carriers of an ancient culture that stretched back to prehistoric times, from a homeland that had long been denied autonomy and the chance to develop on its own. In later years, in the early twentieth century, those who came to America from Ukraine were of a different sort: highly skilled and educated, able and willing to contribute to both their native culture and that of their adopted country.
For both sets of immigrants, the church had been the principal means of preserving their culture, so it stood to reason that the first major buildings in Ukrainian-American communities were churches. Such a building was St. Nicholas Cathedral, a structure planned for by immigrant laborers and completed in 1915. It stands in all magnificence on Oakley Boulevard and Rice St. on the North side of Chicago, one of the most beautiful churches in the city, awash with icons, both frescoes and mosaic.
Front entrance to Ukrainian national museum
The church was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Worthmann & Steinbach. In the interior is a plethora of icons, one of Mary the Mother of God, Christ and many saints. A renovation took place by iconographer Boris Makarenko. The renovation of the icons took place from 1974-1977. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated in both English and Ukrainian and the cathedral has become a central focus of religious faith and culture for the Ukrainian community.
Alongside the church there is the Saturday School of Ukrainian Studies, where Ukrainian children learn the language and culture of their forebears. One can hear their voices echoing in the halls and feet stepping to the lively dances of their homeland. It is not only the newcomers who come to learn and celebrate their culture, but those who were born here as well. Both come and send their children to learn the language and crafts and the dances of the land along the Black Sea.
Children and adults also learn the history of their homeland. Both Russia and Ukraine claim descent from the land of Kievan Rus, the first East Slavic state. Their religion was Slavic paganism until their conversion to Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century. Many nations and ethnic groups have wrestled for control of Ukraine over the centuries. Mongols, Turks, Russians, Poles all participated in wars of conquest for Ukraine. The rebirth of Ukraine began with the establishment of the Hetmanate, the Cossack state, from the 15th and 16th to the 18th centuries. The name Cossack, in Ukrainian “kozak” likely came from the Turkic word “kazak”, meaning Free Man. It applied to anyone who could not find a place in society and so ventured into the steppes, where he acknowledged no authority. By the end of the 15th century, the name applied to those Ukrainians who went into the steppes to practice various trades and hunted, fished, and so on.
Cossack instrument
The Cossacks, many of them, were serfs under Polish and Lithuanian rule who had escaped into the steppes. They believed in freedom and democracy and had a constitution that protected their rights. Ukrainian culture was nourished under Cossack protection. In 1648, led by Belden Khmelnytsky, the Cossacks freed Ukraine of foreign invaders. Seeking an ally, Khmelnytsky chose Muscovy, then a small Russian principality. At first, the Cossacks trusted the Russians to respect their traditions of freedom and democracy. However, after Khmelnytsky’s death, Muscovy seized control of Ukraine and by the 18th century under Tsar Peter the Great, declared itself the Russian Empire, appropriating the ancestral lands of Kievan Rus.
“They broke their word (promise),” says Helena, Archivist for the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago. The Cossack Hetmanate was divided between Russia and Poland and was finally absorbed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Around this time, Ukrainians of all walks of life began to emigrate, seeking the freedoms they had formerly enjoyed but were now denied them. Many settled in the United States, chiefly in Chicago. They established institutions such a credit union to help immigrant Ukrainians establish themselves financially and built magnificent churches.
Ukrainian immigrants also dedicated themselves to preserving their culture. The Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago has mounted exhibits of Ukrainian folk costumes worn by men and women of the different regions of Ukraine, pysanky (decorated Easter eggs), musical instruments and portraits of Ukrainian rulers. There is also “a wooden model of a church in Ukraine built from memory without the use of nails.*”
Ukrainian women folk costume
Singers and dancers perform at Ukrainian Village Fest, located at Sts. Volodymyr and Olha parish in Ukrainian Village. There is a marketplace there and Ukrainian food for sale. All proceeds go to the support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Army.
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In wartime, successive waves of immigrants came from Ukraine to Chicago, welcomed by the Ukrainian American community there, who helped them settle down and build new lives. Today, in the midst of the Russo-Ukraine war, that need is also filled by RefugeeOne, an organization that serves refugees from many parts of the world, including Ukrainians. With programs such as medical services, ment.al health counseling and job development, RefugeeOne performs an invaluable service to Ukrainian refugees and others from around the world. Even in the midst of war, Ukrainians will have places and people to turn to, and their culture and faith to sustain them.
Thanks to the Ukrainian National Museum and the Chicago History Museum
