October 6, 1933. That was the date the first issue of this English-language newspaper rolled off the presses in Jersey City, N.J. It was a historic milestone in our community that resulted from an insightful, enlightened and far-reaching decision of the Ukrainian National Association to offer this fraternal benefit in addition to the Ukrainian-language daily newspaper Svoboda.
The driving force behind that move was the UNA’s Supreme Assembly (today known as the General Assembly), which had been charged by the UNA’s 18th Convention held in May 1933 to look into the possibility of publishing an English-language periodical geared toward the generations of Ukrainians born in the United States. Convened for a special meeting that July, the Supreme Assembly acted expeditiously and decided that the UNA would begin publication of an English-language supplement to Svoboda that would be called The Ukrainian Weekly.