Ukrainian Museum-Archives

Ukrainian Museum-Archives This house at 1202 Kenilworth Avenue, built around the turn of the 20th century, was a convent for Ukrainian nuns and then home to a Ukrainian Boy Scouts organization before becoming the Ukrainian Museum-Archives. The building has undergone extensive modernization in recent years to provide a safe and secure environment for the museum's collections.

While much of Tremont's Ukrainian population moved to the suburbs in the decades following World War II, the Ukrainian-Museum Archives remains a presence—drawing international recognition for its extensive collections. The museum started in 1952 when Leonid Bachynsky, a scholar-turned-machinist who left Ukraine to escape Communism after World War II, began collecting materials relating to Ukrainian immigration to America. He was later joined by Alexander Fedynsky, another post-World War II Ukrainian immigrant, and the museum's collection continued to grow. It now contains more than 20,000 books, thousands of newspapers and sound recordings, as well as documents, photographs, artwork, clothing, pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs), and other artifacts relating to Ukrainian culture. The facility is one of the largest Ukrainian archives in North America.

The museum officially opened to the public in 1977. The 3-story house across from Lincoln Park was once a convent for Ukrainian nuns and later served as home to a Ukrainian Boy Scouts organization. Alexander Fedynsky's son Andrew became the museum's director in 1986 and, with the help of volunteers, began organizing its collections and rehabilitating the old house. Today, the museum continues to grow. An annex recently opened behind the main building—providing additional archival space and a gallery for special exhibitions. The museum regularly hosts educational events and has collaborated with other institutions in Ohio and throughout the world to further the study of Ukrainian culture and history.