|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
Ukrainians in America
| Article
# : |
10022 |
|
|
Section : |
CULTURE
|
| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1986 |
8,708 Words |
| Author
: |
Eloise Paananen and Halyna Myroniuk
Eloise Paananen is a free-lance writer based in Washington,
D.C. Halyna Myroniuk is a first generation Ukrainian-American.
She is a senior library assistant to the University of
Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center in St. Paul. |
Think of grand Orthodox churches with towering spires, or modest wooden structures with their characteristic architecture. Listen to the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, singing and playing their handmade banduras without a director. View the colorful Cossack costumes of the men, the intricately embroidered garb of the women as they dance. Marvel at the famed Easter eggs and savor the secrets of Ukrainian cookery. These are the overt expressions of the rich culture that Ukrainians have brought to America--the top layer, so to speak.
A more subtle expression is the intellectual life of the scholars, the preservation of the Ukrainian language, the writers and poets, sculptors, fraternal organizations, women's societies, serious patriotism to America, and an equally dedicated resolve to see Ukraine a free and independent republic again. Today, there are about 1,500,000 Ukrainian-Americans, counted through church membership, census figures, and immigration records, but because of Ukraine's complex history, it is impossible to know their number for certain.
Ukrainians are ethnic descendants of the Slavs, which today include the Poles, the Slovaks, the Czechs, the Serbians, the Croatians, the Slovenes, and the Bulgarians. Russians are the largest nationality; Ukrainians are second, with a population of 49 million. Ukraine's capital, Kiev, was founded in the eighth century. It is the country's largest city, with a population of two million, and the third largest city in the Soviet Union. Located in the southeastern corner of Europe, Ukraine is bounded by the Black Sea in the south, the Pripet, Desna, and Seym rivers in the north, the Caucasus Mountains and the Don River in the east, and the southern Dniester River and Carpathian Mountains in
... (1998 of 54816 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
