Stories from Storage

Not even the biggest museums can put all of their collections on display at once. The UHEC's currently very limited gallery space makes this challenge even more extreme. The situation is even worse for archives, which can easily have millions of individual documents in their repository.

In "Stories from Storage", we show how individual museum items or archival documents held by the UHEC can illuminate the history, culture, art, and religious beliefs of Ukrainians in Ukraine and the diaspora. We will continue to add blog post content, as well as video podcasts and other media, in the coming months.

 

Displaying 1 - 10 of 26
Sofia Rusova - Ukrainian educator and activist
Sofia Rusova

The major featured item in the UHEC's 2018 exhibition "Cultural Identity to Statehood: Ukraine 1917-1921" was a greeting addressed to the UNR Directorate hand-lettered by Heorhii Narbut and signed by the workers of the Ministry of Art and Education. Among the many pages of signatures are those of important and famous scholars and leaders, one of the most intriguing is that of Sofia Rusova.

Posted: 2019
Immigrant Patriotism: "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in Ukrainian

Lack of English did not stop 20th century Ukrainian immigrants from expressing their appreciation for their new home in the United States.

Posted: 2016
A peaceful winter scene - or is it?

Sometimes an artwork can represent more than it appears to. This postcard from a century ago has a surprise that connects it to both Ukrainian history and current events.

Posted: 2015
Museums are where generations meet

Objects in museums can speak to people in surprising ways. Dr. Luba Kowalsky was so captivated by an embroidery in a Ukrainian museum that she had to recreate it, and her re-creation is now in the Center's collections so that others can continue to be inspired by it.

Posted: 2015
Ukrainians and Native Americans on the Great Plains?

When we think of Ukrainian immigrants to the US before World War I, it's the coal mines in Pennsylvania and the big cities of the East and Midwest that spring first to mind. But there was more to it than that.

Posted: 2015
The Ukrainian Christmas Season

Unlike the "Christmas Creep" that we have in the US, the traditional Christmas season among Ukrainian Christians has a very definite beginning and end. And it STARTS on Christmas Day!

Posted: 2014
Information warfare then and now

Information has been used a weapon during conflicts from the Cold War to the recent EuroMaidan protests in Kyiv.

Posted: 2013
A voice from the past

Archival documents can provide literal voices from the past in the form of letters and other documents. This telegram tells a scary tale about religious persecution in the early days of Stalin's regime.

Posted: 2013
A challenge to history sleuths!

The Joseph Marmash Papers contain a curious letter from somebody named "Alex" in the US Army. Can you help us figure out who Alex was, and help us learn his story?

Posted: 2013
The historical value of "ephemera"

There are many things that pass through our hands every day that are intended to be thrown away. Individually, these items have relatively little value, but if one assembles a comprehensive collection, then they can suddenly take on significant importance as documentation of a given time, place, or community.

Posted: 2013

Pages