The Ukrainian History and Education Center’s mission is to connect generations by telling the stories of Ukraine and Ukrainian Americans through its museum and archives.
The UHEC has fulfilled this mission through rotating exhibitions, public access to archives, educational and cultural programming, and online resources that increase the appreciation of Ukrainian history and culture among non-Ukrainians and help Ukrainian Americans better understand their roots.
Located in central New Jersey between New York and Philadelphia, the UHEC has one of the premier US-based collections of artifacts and documents relating to Ukrainian history, culture, and the Ukrainian-American immigrant experience. It is is the only Ukrainian cultural institution in New Jersey with permanent collections that are cared for and made accessible by qualified museum and archives professionals.
The UHEC museum permanent collection consists of over 15,000 objects of folk art, fine art, religious ritual objects, textiles, and icons, as well as objects that document Ukrainian and Ukrainian American cultural, religious, and political history.
The UHEC Archives holds hundreds of collections documenting the lives and work of Ukrainian and Ukrainian American individuals, families, and organizations in New Jersey and throughout the world. In addition, the UHEC Archives has one of the largest collections of Ukrainian recorded sound and radio programming in the world, including over 1,500 cassette and open reel tapes, over 2,200 78 rpm shellac discs, and over 2,000 vinyl records. The magnetic recordings in this collection are currently being digitized and made accessible.
The UHEC also operates the Nashi Predky/Our Ancestors Ukrainian genealogy program, which presents workshops, conferences, and online webinars that introduce family historians not only to genealogy research methodology, but also to the complex history and culture of Ukraine and the surrounding region.
The origins of the UHEC date back to the 1960s, when what are now its collections were known as the Museum and Archives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (more widely-known in some circles as the "Museum in Bound Brook"). In March 2018, the UHEC was recognized by the IRS as a separate and distinct 501(c)(3) organization.
Internships
We welcome interns with appropriate skills and interests. We have very limited opportunities for paid internships, but if your degree in Museum Studies, Library and Information Science concentrating in archives, or Public History requires an internship as a requirement, we may be able to accommodate you. Please contact us!
Volunteer opportunities
We have many projects where you can help us with your hands, eyes, and brains! We gladly welcome volunteers of all ages, from high school students to senior citizens. And there are projects that you can even work on from home! The ability to read Ukrainian is helpful, but is certainly not a requirement.
Do you have talent or experience with
- Ukrainian/English translation?
- Photography?
- Audio recording and editing?
- Database management?
- Event planning?
- Graphic Design?
- Folk art skills - embroidery, pysanka making, folk painting, pottery?
Would you be interested in
- Assessing and cataloging rare books and Displaced Persons-era publications?
- Preserving and making historical documents and photographs more accessible to researchers?
- Working with antique textiles, like kylyms or rushnyky?
- Helping to make historic Ukrainian audio recordings accessible on the Internet?
- Working with phonograph records or magnetic tape?
To start the process, please complete our volunteer application.
Have questions? Please contact us at volunteer@UkrHEC.org or by phone at 732-356-0132.