The first issue of ‘Svoboda’, 1893
The old headquarters of the UNA and ‘Svoboda’
The “Ruthenian (later Ukrainian) National Association”, a fraternal benefit society, was founded in February 1894 in Shamokin, Pa., but moved its headquarters to Jersey City in 1910. It purchased a property at 83 Grand Street in 1910, which would house the UNA’s administrative offices and the editorial and printing facilities of “Svoboda”. Svoboda, founded in 1893 in Jersey City, would go on to become one of the preeminent newspapers of the Ukrainian diaspora.
By the end of 1913, the UNA (then still called the “Little Russian National Union”) would have 372 affiliated branches in 20 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces, including 31 branches in 13 different cities across New Jersey. Almanac of the ‘Rus’kyi Narodnyi Soiuz v Amerytsi’ (‘Little Russian National Union of America’) for the Ordinary Year of 1914 A number of the larger cities would have multiple branches, perhaps catering to different demographics or socio-economic groups within the Ukrainian community. This can be seen quite dramatically in the group photos of two UNA branches in Trenton:
The 83 Grand Street building in Jersey City included office and printing facilities, allowing for a fully vertically-integrated publishing enterprise:
In order to continue its expansion, the UNA purchased the neighboring building to 83 Grand Street in 1927, razed both structures, and built a large, modern headquarters building which opened in late 1928.
The UNA launched an English-language version of “Svoboda” in 1933, named “The Ukrainian Weekly”, and in 1969 the UNA published in English the reference work “Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia” in Toronto through the University of Toronto Press.
By 1974, the UNA had 90,000 members and 460 branches in the U.S. and Canada. On February 22, 1974, the association marked its 80th anniversary with the dedication of a new headquarters in a 15-story office tower at 30 Montgomery St. in Jersey City. The building became popular with Wall Street brokerage firms looking to find a less expensive place to do their business than in lower Manhattan.The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) “Ukrainians to dedicate new offices”, February 20, 1974, p.20. In 1997, the UNA sold its Jersey City headquarters and purchased a new office location in Parsippany, New Jersey.
As a fraternal association, the UNA continues to sponsor summer school, folk dances, cultural events and charitable giving. Both Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly are still published in print and have a digital presence for a global audience on the Web as well. Svoboda is the considered to be the oldest continually-published Ukrainian-language periodical in the world.