Where Are America’s Ukrainians?

By Dr. Myron Kuropas

As anyone interested in American demographics knows, they are changing. The United States is a mobile society. People are always looking for better jobs and opportunities, a more comfortable climate, or better schools. It is estimated that some 40 million Americans move every year. It seems that Ukrainians down here are moving also. Their ethno-national identities are shifting as well.

Our first immigration was economic. Most of our early immigrants were single, illiterate men who settled in eastern Pennsylvania where they worked in the hard anthracite coal regions. It was here, in Shenandoah, in 1884, that Fr. Ivan Wolansky and his wife established the first Ukrainian community. It was also during this early period that our fraternal benefit societies were established, the Ukrainian National Association (UNA), 1894, the Ukrainian Fraternal Association (UFA), 1911, and the Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics, 1912. Many early immigrants hoped to return to Ukraine with the money they had saved here. The First World War prevented that. Most reconciled themselves to becoming Americans.

By 1902, a total of 262, 815 Eastern-rite Greek Catholics were living in the United States, of whom 70% were from Transcarpathia. Most called themselves “Rusyns”, others called themselves “Carpatho-Russians.” It was the Catholic priests from Halychyna who helped transform 40% of the Rusyns into “Ukrainians”. The identity question which became paramount during this period was: what is the true national identity of people from Ukraine - Rusyn, Russian or Ukrainian?

The second Ukrainian immigration wave began during the early 1920s. Immigration was restricted. Quotas were established for each country, with preferences for Western Europeans. Since Ukraine was not an independent, separate state, Ukrainian immigrants came over as part of the Polish, Austrian, or Hungarian quotas. This immigration was political. Having lived through the tumultuous years of Ukrainian independence, most immigrants had a strong ethno-national identity. Various political ideologies and organizations associated with them emerged during this period, including Communists and Hetmanites during the 1920s, and Nationalists during the 1930s. The identity question which surfaced during this period was: who is the true Ukrainian - the Communist, the Hetmanite or the Nationalist?

The third immigration which arrived after World War II was also a political immigration. Most were allowed entrance as a result of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The identity question revolved around the question of who are better Ukrainian nationalists, the Banderivtsi or the Melnykivtsi? That question still lingers.

Before moving on, it is important to note that the UNA, which once had a meaningful presence in Canada, is no longer a player north of the border. Also important is the fact that the UFA recently merged with the Providence Society.