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 11 - 20 of 27
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: December 11, 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: August 19, 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: June 21, 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: May 13, 2013
Ukrainian Orthodoxy and the US labor movement?

Seemingly dry and boring parish records such as ledger books and meeting minutes can sometimes hide surprising historical facts.

Posted: February 22, 2013
The Holodomor letters

Two letters sent to an Ukrainian exile in 1933 provide a first-hand account of the artificial famine in Kuban'.

Posted: November 21, 2012
Multi-purpose village house

We in the West have gotten used to the idea that farmhouses are physically separate from the "barn", where livestock and grain are kept. This was not the case for traditional village houses in Ukraine.

Posted: October 5, 2012
Architectural destruction past and present

In the 1930s, the anti-religious zeal of the Communist government resulted in the destruction of architectural masterpieces. Today, it is capitalist development.

Posted: June 22, 2012
Fearsome Easter egg birds

The birds on this pysanka (Ukrainian decorated Easter egg) are strong and serious animals, not "tweety-birds" or baby chicks. They have no-nonsense beaks and big claws. In fact, they're almost scary-looking.

Posted: April 8, 2012
Prehistoric Ukrainian sausage?

What can we learn about the prehistory of the residents of present-day Ukraine from a scholarly analysis of the Ukrainian word for "sausage"? Not much, probably, but that didn't stop one person from trying...

Posted: March 13, 2012

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