The Ukrainian National Home Association Fonds

 

The Ukainian National Home Choir, Winnipeg, MB, 1929 (With conductor, Yevhen Turula, shown seated second row, centre). The Ukrainian National Home of Winnipeg Photograph Collection, PC 331. U of M Archives & Special Collections.

Ukrainian School. Ridna Shkola. Ukrainian National Home, Winnipeg, MB, 1916 (Yuriy Genyk is the teacher shown standing in the top row, centre). The Ukrainian National Home of Winnipeg Photograph Collection, PC 331. U of M Archives & Special Collections.

The Ukrainian National Home Association (‘Ukrains’kyi  Narodnyi  Dim’) was founded in Winnipeg in 1913, after discussions that had begun as early as 1905. The Association in Winnipeg was the foundation for the movement which established a network of Ukrainian National Home Associations throughout Western Canada.  The Ukrainian National Home Association was a secular organization designed to support the cultural and educational needs of Ukrainian Canadians, regardless of their religious or political views or affiliations.  The building, located at the corner of McGregor Street and Burrows Avenue, eventually housed an auditorium for dramatic and musical presentations and concerts, meeting rooms, a library, a banquet hall,  a Ukrainian school (ridna shkola), and lodgings.  In later years, the Association funded and housed Ukrainian language courses sponsored by the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba, during the tenure of Dr. Natalia Aponiuk as Director of the Centre and a long-time member of the board of directors of the Association. In the spring of 2011, the membership of the Ukrainian National Home, at the suggestion of the chair, Dr. Natalia Aponiuk,  voted to  to donate their archives and library holdings to the University. 

In May of that year, the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections acquired the Ukrainian National Home fonds, consisting of the organization’s textual records, photographs, rare books and artefacts.  In addition, the Elizabeth Dafoe Library’s Slavic Collection was gifted the remainder of the library, which chronicled nearly one hundred years of Ukrainian Canadian history.  One other important decision was made during the spring meeting, the association created an archival fund and a scholarship at the University of Manitoba. The Ukrainian National Home fonds, are available to view at the U of M Archives & Special Collections.