Ukrainian Village (a few observations)
Going to Chicago and not visiting the neighborhood called Ukrainian Village was just impossible. The story is well known. Ukrainians’ immigration to the US started back at the end of the 19th century and is still in progress. Ukrainians populated different states, but the situation in Chicago was particular: in the 1930s there were over 100 small Ukrainian enterprises and shops; in 1980 nearly 60,000 of our compatriots lived in the city.
They mainly settled down in the area limited by Division Street, Rockwell Street, Chicago Avenue, and Damen Avenue in the western-central part of the megalopolis. Ukrainian Village does not stick out among the neighboring blocks and only after a certain crossroads one can see the signs “West Town – Ukrainian Village” on the poles. In someone’s garden we noticed huge decorative sunflowers; in the list of names on the door the surname of Kramnik strikes the eye and everything becomes clear near St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. There is even a municipal sign there informing that the neighborhood is historically significant (and, what is important, well-preserved) and its streets tell the story of German, Polish and, first of all, Ukrainian migrants.
St. Nicholas church was founded in 1905 and the cathedral was constructed in 1913-15. Its style interestingly combines the Cossacks’ pseudo-baroque with purely Roman Catholic reservation: thin bell towers, greenish domes, simple sand color bricks, no gilding. The bright mosaics on the front appeared on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of baptism of Rus’. Not far there is another catholic church, the more modern and squat Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church (1973).
It is evident that both churches, especially St. Nicholas Cathedral are the center of diaspora’s life: at the cathedral there is a school promising a comprehensive education for children. Judging from the posters at the entrance, they teach everything there: from making motankas [Ukrainian traditional dolls. – Ed.] to yoga and the Argentinean tango. As for the whole picture, it is clear from the architecture that the neighborhood was not very rich: brick three-storied buildings with flat roofs meant for several families prevail. The Ukrainians used to come as a cheap workforce, organized themselves little by little and went up the social scale. There also was a funny incident. The fronton of the Saints Volodymyr and Olha Church depicts the scene of the baptism of Rus’: in the river Jordan at princes’ feet there are undressed neophyte being baptized next to the people wearing vyshyvankas [traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts. – Ed.]. It is clear that the painter wanted to show the connection of times but it looks like in the early Middle Ages in Kyiv people wore vyshyvankas.
In front of the cathedral there is an office of a famous Ukrainian party. Taking into account their political believes, it is interesting to see under the red and black flag a huge billboard reading “Authentic Jamaican Mr. Brown’s Lounge.” On the other side of the road there is a small shop of Ukrainian food called “Ukraina Deli,” very similar to the shops in Kyiv with the only difference that its range of products is less abundant. On the other hand, it is good to have at least this one.
And the main and the best is the ballet school at Saints Volodymyr and Olha Church. Classes full of children and a long queue of parents with kids. Everybody speaks Ukrainian without any political parties.
