Volodymyr and Katherine Kedrowsky Papers

The Volodymyr and Katherine Kedrowsky Papers contain primary source material regarding Volodymyr's activities as a diplomat for the Ukrainian People's Republic, as director of the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America, and his political and historical writings. It also includes photographs and ephemera related to Katherine's work with Girl Scouting and Ukrainian women's affairs.

Summary Information

CreatorKedrovsʹkа, Kateryna
CreatorKedrovsʹkyĭ, Volodymyr
CreatorVoice of America (Organization)
TitleVolodymyr and Katherine Kedrowsky Papers
IDg.24
Dates1920-1983
Quantity1.5 Linear Feet, 3 boxes, 8 reels of audio tape
LanguagesMultiple languages
LanguagesUkrainian, unless otherwise noted at the series or file level below.
RepositoryUkrainian History and Education Center Archives

Biographical / Historical

Volodymyr Kedrowsky (Володимир Кедровський, Volodymyr Kedrovskyi) was a colonel in the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (Ukrains'ka Narodnia Respublika, UNR), political activist, diplomat, writer, and radio broadcaster. He wrote under the literary pseudonyms Mykola Shram, Khersonets, Petro Chevliy, Did Buchar and Batuninets. His second wife Katherine was a Ukrainian-American who was involved in scouting and Ukrainian-American women's clubs. She was a founding member of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (Soiuz Ukrainok Ameryky).

V. Kedrowsky was born in Kherson in 1890 into a family that had considerable land holdings along the Inhul and Inhulets rivers. As a young man, he was influenced by the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party, and was active in Ukrainophile revolutionary youth groups in Kherson, which (among other things) staged performances of Ukrainian plays as propaganda campaigns among the Ukrainian peasantry. He studied at the Imperial Novorossiya University in Odessa from 1907 to 1911, obtaining a degree in statistics and economics. After graduating, Kedrowsky married fellow Kherson native Marta Odarik.

He worked at the Statistical Division of the Kherson Zemstvo until the outbreak of World War I, when he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, in which he served as an officer. In 1917 he was appointed Deputy Secretary of Military Affairs in the UNR. He resigned in protest of the entry of German troops into Ukraine, and returned to the Kherson Zemstvo. After the fall of the Hetmanate, he was appointed Chief of Mobilization and Quartermaster General for the army of the Directorate. In early 1919 he was the military attaché of the UNR to the Ottoman Empire. In December 1919 he began a string of diplomatic assignments as UNR ambassador to Latvia, Estonia and Finland. In 1920 he was a UNR delegate at the Russian-Polish peace negotiations that lead to the Treaty of Riga, and in 1921 was a special military representative of the Directorate and personal representative of Symon Petliura to the Turkish government.

After the Bolshevik takover of Ukraine, he and his wife settled in Baden, Austria, and then immigrated to the United States in December 1923. He was active in Ukrainian-American organizations, and served as co-editor of the Svoboda newspaper from 1926 to 1933. In 1932, his wife Marta died, and he married Katherine Schutock. From 1955 to 1963 he worked for the United States Department of State and served as the chief of the Ukrainian Service of the Voice of America, where he was involved in the writing of the programs as well as an on-air reader. He died in Metuchen NJ in 1970. Throughout his career, he wrote articles on political, military, and historical topics.

Katherine Kedrowsky was born Katherine Schutock (Shattuck) in 1904 in New York City to a Ukrainian family originating from Bukovina. She was a graduate City College. Having been active in Girl Scouting since her school days. she organized the first Ukrainian Girl Scout troops at Ukrainian-American churches and settlement houses. She was a charter member and the first treasurer of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America.

Scope and Contents

This collection primarily contains materials assembled by V. Kedrowsky in the course of his work for the diplomatic corps the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Voice of America, as well as his writings. It contains some diplomatic correspondence, a significant number of radio scripts used for broadcast, an audio recording of a liturgy in the National Shrine in Washington, DC, drafts and finished versions of his writings, photographs, and ephemera. In addition, it contains material assembled by K. Kedrowsky, including photographs, periodicals, and ephemera.

Arrangement

Arranged by context of creation or genre in eight series, as follows:

Missing Title

  1. Ukrainian People's Republic
  2. Voice of America
  3. Correspondence
  4. Subject files
  5. Writings
  6. Photographs and postcards
  7. Third-party materials
  8. Published and near-print materials

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Volodymyr and Katherine Kedrowsky Papers; box number; folder number; Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives, Somerset, New Jersey.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for researcher use. Please contact the archivist (archives@ukrhec.org) for more information and to make arrangements.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Custodial History

Donated to the Center by Volodymyr and Katherine's son George Kedrowsky.

Controlled Access Headings

Subjects

  • Revolution (Ukraine : 1917-1921)

Genres

  • Diplomatic documents
  • Radio scripts
  • Sound recordings
  • Sacred vocal music

Related Archival Materials

The bulk of Volodymyr Kedrowsky's papers were donated by the family to the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S. (http://uvan.org/archives/).

Container List

Series 1.  Ukrainian People's Republic, 1920-1921.

Language of materials

Ukrainian, Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian, German and French.

 
Correspondence of consulate in Riga, Latvia, 1920-1921.

Scope and Contents

Incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence, primarily with the Finnish consulate in regards to a large shipment of paper products bound for Ukraine that had been stranded in Riga after falling into Bolshevik hands.

  • box 1 folder 1
Official documents, 1918-1921. 
Originals, 1919-1920.

Physical facet

Documents were pasted onto 8.5x11" office paper, making the writing on the reverse of some of the documents inaccessible.

Scope and Contents

Travel permits for Volodymyr and Marta Kedrowsky, Lithuanian diplomatic status certificate, letter certifying that Marta is the wife of Army Chief Inspector Volodymyr Kedrowsky, and an invitation to an evening tea from the Chairman of the Council of People's Ministers (Kamianets').

  • box 1 folder 2
Photocopies, 1918-1921.

Scope and Contents

Photocopies of diplomatic passports and visas.

  • box 1 folder 3
Series 2.  Voice of America, 1957-1963. 
Scripts, 1957-1963.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by date of broadcast.

Scope and Contents

Spirit-duplicated broadcast scripts of programming by the Voice of America Ukrainian Service. A number of the scripts have pencil annotations, including last-minute revisions as well as accent and phrasing marks indicating that they were likely used for on-air broadcast.

 
1957.
  • box 1 folder 4
1958.
  • box 1 folder 5
1959.
  • box 1 folder 6-7
1960.
  • box 1 folder 8-10
1961.
  • box 2 folder 1-2
1962.
  • box 2 folder 3
1963.

Scope and Contents

Also contains one undated sheet with manuscript in pencil.

  • box 1 folder 4
Audio recordings, early 1960s.

Physical facet

Adhesive tape used to splice the audio tape is dry and easily broken. Some of the paper leaders have already become detached.

Conditions Governing Use

Advance notice is required to prepare access copies

Scope and Contents

Live and studio recordings of spoken word and music, most likely used during the editing of VOA Ukrainian Service programs.

 
"Ukrainian High Mass - National Shrine", likely 1961.

Language of materials

Church Slavonic and English.

Scope and Contents

Live recording of a Ukrainian Catholic hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated by Bishop Joseph Schmondiuk at the National Shrine in Washington, DC. The recording was likely made during the Christmas season of early 1961 (but certainly before 1963), as mention is made of the "recent death" of Bishop Constantine Bohachevsky (d. January, 1961) and Pope John XXIII (papacy 1958-1963) is commemorated during litanies.

  • box 4 reel 1-4
"Ed R. Murrow's statement on the 25th Anniversary of T. G. Masaryk's death", 1962.

Language of materials

English.

  • box 4 reel 5
Music recordings, undated.

Language of materials

Ukrainian, English and Latin.

Scope and Contents

Recordings of Ukrainian and American Christmas carols, and Schubert's Ave Maria.

  • box 4 reel 6-8
Series 3.  Correspondence, 1927-1970.

Language of materials

Ukrainian and English.

Scope and Contents

Incoming and outgoing correspondence, including a letter to the editor of the New York Times, and letters of condolence to K. Kedrowsky.

  • box 2 folder 5
Series 4.  Subject files, 1922-1971. 
Fellowship of Supporters of the League of Nations, 1922-1924 and undated.

Scope and Contents

Incoming correspondence to V. Kedrowsky as president of the Fellowship of Supporters of the League of Nations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UNR government-in-exile.

  • box 2 folder 6
Isaak Mazepa, 1946-1953.

Scope and Contents

Materials related to the Ukrainian political leader Isaak Mazepa, including copies of outgoing letters, text of speech given at a memorial service honoring Mazepa, and special issue of "Vil'ne Slovo" (June, 1952) dedicated to Mazepa.

  • box 2 folder 7
Obituaries and death notices, 1971.

Scope and Contents

Newspaper clippings related to the death of V. Kedrowsky collected by K. Kedrowsky.

  • box 2 folder 8
Series 5.  Writings, undated.

Scope and Contents

Political and historical writings by V. Kedrowsky, as well as related research materials.

 
"Ukrains'ka viis'kova orhanizatsia"
  • box 2 folder 9
"Tsenzurovanyi prymirnyk 'Dosvitky' P. Kulisha"
  • box 1 folder 10
Short articles and fragments
  • box 2 folder 11
Notes and correspondence, 1937, 1969, and undated.

Scope and Contents

Press release for lecture tour, correspondence related to publication of writings, and research notes.

  • box 2 folder 12
Copies of published writings
  • box 2 folder 13
Series 6.  Photographs and postcards, circa 1920-1942 and undated.

Scope and Contents

Includes photographs from the UNR diplomatic mission to the Baltics; the dedication of the tombstone to M. Drahomanov in Sofia, Bulgaria; Ukrainian-American Sich and scouting events; market scenes in Vinnytsia and Kharkiv taken by German photographers in 1942; and other unidentified/undated images.

  • box 2 folder 14
Series 7.  Third-party materials 
Ivan Vlasovs'kyi article, circa 1958.

Scope and Contents

Typescript and galley proof of article by Ivan Vlasovs'kyi entitled "Kniaz' K. K. Ostroz'kyi, znamenytyi patron i oboronets' pravoslavia v istorii ukrains'koho narodu" ("Князь К. К. Острозький, знаменитий патрон і оборонець православія в історії українського народу", "Prince K. Ostroz'kyi, the famous patron and defender of Orthodoxy in the history of the Ukrainian people"), with corrections and comments.

Processing Information

While these items may have been associated erroneously with the Kedrowsky papers by a previous archivist, they have been retained as the handwriting of the comments is more consistent with that of Kedrowsky that that of Vlasovs'kyi.

  • box 2 folder 15
Personal and family documents

Scope and Contents

Genealogical booklet of the Ivanyshyn family and travel permit issued to Volodymyr Shoff [?] by the UNR consulate in Turkey.

  • box 2 folder 16
Series 8.  Published and near-print materials 
Inscribed publications, 1931, 1947.

Scope and Contents

Copies of "Z dyplomatychnoi diial'nosty Danyla Hreka" by Dr. Panas Fedenko, and "Sira Ukraina" by Dr. Tymish Olesiuk, both inscribed by their authors to V. Kedrowsky.

  • box 2 folder 17
Newspaper clippings, periodicals and ephemera, 1933-1983.

Scope and Contents

Includes June 1921 issue of "Nasha Zoria" (Łańcut, Poland); the May 1933 issue of "Zhinochyi Svit" (Pittsburgh, Penn.); "Ukrainian Bureau" newsletters (1939-1940), and materials collected by K. Kedrowsky.

  • box 2 folder 18
"Starodavnia Ukraiina"

Scope and Contents

A series of plays under the title "Starodavnia Ukraiina v dramatychnykh spravakh" ("Стародавня Украйина въ драматычных справах") (Odessa, 1899, lithographically reproduced holograph). The author listed on the cover is "O. Ts... bat'ko" (O. Ц... батько). A note by K. Kedrowsky indicates that they were written by a great-uncle of V. Kedrowsky and were printed in an edition of 100.

Conditions Governing Use

Access and duplication may be restricted due to fragile condition.

 
Parts 1-2: "Чорный Шляхъ", "Козакъ Байда"
  • box 3 folder 1
Parts 3-4: "За виру и правду", "Тарасъ Бульба"
  • box 3 folder 2
Parts 5-6: "Левенци", "Пушкаривна"
  • box 3 folder 3
Part 7: "Злыгодни"
  • box 3 folder 4
Part 8: "За булаву"

Physical facet

Missing cover and title page.

  • box 3 folder 5