|
Ukrainian Cultural Garden |
|
The Ukrainian Cultural Garden is located on the west side of the lower boulevard, opposite the Greek Garden level. Brick and stone courts are connected by paved walks to produce a richly formal effect in a background setting of varying shades of green. The entrance is to the left court through a stone and iron gateway bearing bronze plaques and portrait reliefs by Frank L. Jirouch, representing Bohdan Khmelnitsky (1593-1657), leader of a revolt against the Poles in 1614, and Mikhail Hrushevsky (1866-1934), historian, teacher, and author. Main interest centers around three bronze busts of famous Ukrainians�Ivan Franko (1856-1916), poet, patriot, and folklorist Volodimir the Great (956-1015), first Christian ruler of the Ukraine and Taras G. Shevchenko (1814-1861), poet, teacher, reformer, liberator of Serfs in Russia whose popular poems have won him the name of the Father of Ukrainian Literature. These three busts are the work of Alexander Archipenko, world-famous master of modern art and one of the founders of cubism, who was born in Kiev, the ancient capital of Ukraine. These sculptures thus greatly enrich the art treasures of Cleveland.
The Ukrainian Garden was completed in 1939. By a City Proclamation, Mayor Harold H. Burton designated June 2, 1940, for the formal dedication of the Ukrainian Cultural Garden. " Whereas the Ukrainian Cultural Gardens form a strong and important link in the chain of the Cultural Gardens," the Proclamation read in part, " and whereas these Ukrainian Gardens are symbols of the contribution of the Ukraine to the cultural and spiritual development of the world�as mayor of Cleveland, I designate Sunday, June 2, 1940 as the day for the formal dedication of the Ukrainian Cultural Garden in Rockefeller Park, and I invite all who can do so to participate in the dedicatory exercises."
On June 1, 1940, an impressive and well-attended pre-dedication concert was given in the Music Hall of Public Auditorium. The famous National Chorus " Dumka" of Detroit, the Ukrainian Dancing Guild, and guest soloists, Maria Sokil, Olga Lepkovs, and Antin Rudnitsky, were featured. Mrs. Harold H. Burton extended greetings on behalf of her husband, the mayor.
The dedication ceremonies on June 2, 1940, were attended by over 8,000 persons, including many out-of-town guests. Professor Clarence A. Manning, head of the department of East European languages at Columbia University of New York City, delivered the principal address. Mayor Burton accepted the new garden on behalf of the city. Other speakers included Dr. Luke Myshuha, editor of the Ukraini-
an daily " Svoboda,"of New York, Archbishop Ivan Theodorovich of Philadelphia, and Charles Wolfram, then president of the Cultural Gardens Federation. Omer E. Miles, attorney, and president of the United Ukrainian Organizations, was chairman and master of ceremonies.
Governor John W. Bricker sent a message congratulating the United Ukrainian Organizations on their Cultural Garden undertaking, and expressing his conviction that the Ukrainian Garden would do much to acquaint citizens generally with Ukrainian history and with the achievements of Ukrainian scholars, writers, and poets.
The Ukrainian Cultural Garden was developed, with the aid of Federal and City grants, principally by the United Ukrainian Organizations of Cleveland a central council, composed of clubs, societies, and associations for the purpose of directing and encouraging cultural, educational, and welfare work among the 25,000 Ukrainians of Cleveland. This organization is affiliated with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, which strives to assist morally, politically, and financially, the liberation of Ukraine, and to attain its sovereignty. Its generous and tireless members and its enterprising executive board, composed of Omer E. Miles, John Spodar, Harry Stepanek, Cmytro Szmagala, William Wolansky, Theodore Haycey and Walter Woycitsky, have been largely instrumental in enriching Cleveland with this magnificent garden.
The home of the Ukrainian people is the vast and fertile prairie stretching from the Carpathian Mountains eastward to the Sea of Azov. Several rivers, of which the Dnieper is the largest, cross the country in the same general direction from north to south, running into the Black Sea or into the Sea of
The Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation
BROTHERHOOD and INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
JUDGE LOUIS PETRASH JUDGE JOS. SAWICKI NORMA WULFF
Executive Secretary Corresponding Secretary
MRS. LEWIS W. PHILLIPS MRS. FRANK MERVAR
ANTON GRDINA MRS. GEORGE W. MERCER
MRS. MARY K. DUFFY PHILIP GARBO GEORGE N. KALKAS
Printed in Cleveland, Ohio by
Western Newspaper Printing and Matrix Company
62
Previous | Table of Contents
|