The map of Ukraine

Advocating for Ukrainian self-determination in the late 1950s.

This provocative pair of maps was issued around 1957 in Chicago by the League of Americans of Ukrainian Descent, a part of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA). They were designed to encourage the Ukrainian-American community to lend political, organizational, and financial support against the encroachment of the Soviet Union. According to the UCCA website;

“Since 1940, UCCA has enabled the Ukrainian-American community to generate the political capital and momentum needed to aid the people of Ukraine. During World War II, that included such measures as a Ukrainian-American war bond drive of $5,000,000, organizing aid for Ukrainian war victims and refugees, rallying parishes and community centers towards blood drives, and advocating for the passage of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, which allowed for more than 200,000 persons to enter the US, nearly half of whom were Ukrainians.”

The first sheet presents a detailed map of the entire Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic; labeling national borders, settlements, transportation routes, and various forms of infrastructure according to the legend below the title block. An inset in the lower left shows the ethnological dispersion across the ‘so-called’ Republic, reflecting a general rejection of the political status quo.

The second map, designed in a similar fashion, focuses on the historic territory of Galicia, or Halychyna, centered around the city of Lviv. An explanation of the abbreviations used is provided in the lower left corner. Included with the maps are their original presentation fold and a letter from Lev Dobrianksky, President of the UCCA. A notable and prescient excerpt reads;

“Plainly, Ukraine stands as one of our most important and natural allies in the eventual defeat of Russian Communist imperialism. Its historic claim to national freedom and independence can hardly be ignored. Its place as a sovereign and equal partner in the mutual construction of free Europe of tomorrow must be assured if the foundation of permanent peace and justice among freedom-loving nations is to be impregnable.

In the firm belief that freedom is indivisible and that it is the God-given right of every nation and people, Americans of Ukrainian ancestry proudly view these historic moments as their opportunity to impart all such essential knowledge concerning the land of their forebears in order that the weapons of truth and wisdom may service the basic interest of our country in this hour of mortal threat to its independence and freedom.”

Source: UCAA; Encyclopedia of Ukraine;