The Ukrainian Museum

The core of the collection here began long before the museum had its own building. In nineteen thirty-three, the Ukrainian National Women's League of America purchased six hundred folk art objects for a pavilion at the Chicago World's Fair. At that time, Ukraine was under Soviet and Polish rule, making this pavilion the only one at the fair not sponsored by an independent national government. The collection was entirely funded by the Ukrainian community in the United States, and it served as a powerful statement of national identity for two million visitors. These items eventually became the foundation for the institution you see today.