A
PROCLAMATION
Ukrainian Day, April 21, 1917
President Woodrow Wilson
United States of America
A PROCLAMATION
Whereas,
I approved on March 2, 1917, a Joint Resolution of the Congress
of the United States of America, reading as follows:
"Whereas
in the countries situated in the eastern part of Europe, the
theatre of devastating war, there are at least one million
of Ruthenians, (Ukrainians) in dire need of food, clothing,
and shelter; and
"Whereas
hundreds of thousands of these people have been forced to
abandon their homes and their property, and being deprived
of all oppor- tunity to provide even for their most elementary
wants have undergone disease, starvation, and indescribable
suffering, and
"Whereas
the people of the United States of America have learned with
sorrow of this terrible plight of great numbers of their fellow
beings and have most generously responded to the appeal of
humanity for assistance whenever such appeal has reached them:
Therefore be it
"RESOLVED
BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED,
That in
view of the wretchedness, misery, and privation which these
people are enduring, the President of the United States be
respectively requested to designate and appoint a day on which
the citizens of this country may give expression to their
sympathy by contribution to the now being raised for the relief
of the Ruthenians (Ukrainians) in the belligerent countries,"
AND WHEREAS
I feel confident that the people of the United States will
be moved to aid these people stricken by war, famine and disease;
Now, therefore,
I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, in compliance
with the request of the Congress of the United States do appoint
and proclaim April 21, 1917, as a day upon which the people
of the United States may make such contributions as they feel
disposed for the aid of the stricken Ruthesians (Ukrainians)
in the belligerent countries.
Contributions
may be addressed to the American Red Cross, Washington,
D.C. which will care for their proper distribution. IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed Done at the
City of Washington this sixteenth day of March in the year
of
our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seventeen, and of the
Independence of the United States the one hundred and forty-first.
(Signed)
WOODROW WILSON
Document
87..Text of the proclamation issued by President Woodrow
Wilson designating April 21, 1917 "Ukrainian Day." Over $
85,000 was raised on this occasion for the relief of Ukrainians
in the warring countries. Document shown on Page 40, "To Preserve
A Heritage"
"Both the
Federation and the Alliance worked diligently on behalf of
a nation-wide Ukrainian Day that was proclaimed by President
Woodrow Wilson for April 21, 1917. Standing on street corners
throughout the United States, representatives of the two organizations
collected over eight-five-thousand dollars for Ukrainian refugee
relief as a result of the proclamation." Page 39.
"To Preserve A Heritage: The Story of the Ukrainian
Immigration in the United States"
The Ukrainian Museum
New York, New York, 1984
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