Museum and Archives

St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Museum

The distinction of collecting, preserving and exhibiting artifacts relating to the experience of Ukrainian Catholics in Manitoba is what sets St. Volodymyr Museum apart from the rest. Primary focus has been placed on collecting material relating to the Ukrainian Catholic experience in Canada. It continues to maintain its small Ukrainian ethnographical section collected by Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League members traveling cross-country to meetings and conventions during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

St. Volodymyr Museum was started as a Canadian Centennial project in 1967 by the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada in Winnipeg. The project was blessed by His Grace, the late Most Reverend Archbishop M. Hermaniuk, Metropolitan of Canada, who himself donated many artifacts. The museum, originally located at 418 Aberdeen Avenue in Winnipeg (previous 'Progress' newspaper headquarters) was moved to Blessed Virgin Mary Parish hall in 1985 to avoid further theft and in preparation for the upcoming Centenary of Ukrainians in Canada in 1991. It remained at BVM parish till 1998 when then Auxiliary Bishop Stefan Soroka advised that the collection be moved to the newly renovated Archbishop's Chancery at 233 Scotia in Winnipeg. St. Volodymyr Museum presently finds itself in an environmentally controlled space including storage, workroom, and exhibit areas. Most appropriately it is situated adjacent to the Chancery library and archive which only enhances its location.

The collection is extraordinary - featuring bishops' and priests' vestments, many liturgical items from chalices to hand crosses, icons, church linens, banners etc. Of particular beauty are the growing number of tabernacles and gospel books. A major feature of the museum is a diorama of a rural, Ukrainian Catholic Church c. 1920 which showcases a cross-representation of the collection.

St. Volodymyr Museum, although small in size and very specialized in its mandate, strives to meet and maintain museum standards set by the Canadian Museums Association and Canadian Conservation Institute. Together with the support of the Ukrainian Catholic Foundation of Manitoba, the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada (Manitoba Branch) and His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop Lawrence Huculak, Metropolitan of Canada, the museum staff and volunteers invite you to visit and witness the development of this most important endeavor. 

Did You Know that St. Volodymyr Museum in Winnipeg…

·         Is situated at the Archbishop’s Chancery on Scotia Avenue, on land purchased in 1929 by Bishop Vasyl Ladyka?

·         Collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits Ukrainian Catholic material?

·         Strives to preserve the stories of the Ukrainian Catholic people?

·         Exhibits the vestments and other personal items used by Blessed Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky (on permanent loan to the Bishop Velychkovsky Martyr’s Shrine at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg)?

·         Exhibits the vestments of two previous Ukrainian Catholic Bishops in Canada, Bishop Vasyl Ladyka and Blessed Martyr & Bishop Nykyta Budka? The year 2012 marks the 100^th anniversary of Blessed Bishop Nykyta Budka’s arrival in Canada.

BISHOP BUDKA'S MITRE

·         Exhibits the spoon used by Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky to secretly administer Holy Communion while in the labour camps?

·         Includes in its collection a growing number of tabernacles from Ukrainian Catholic Churches all over the province? The museum has, in fact, initiated a “save the tabernacles” campaign to encourage museums to preserve their tabernacles and other liturgical items no longer used.

…and much, much more! 

Museum tours are offered by appointment. Please call ahead to make arrangements for your visit. Free-will donations in lieu of set admission fees are most appreciated.

The Archives of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg

A brief history of the Archives

and some of the projects undertaken between 2003 and 2010 . . . .

The Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg Archives (UCAWA) is housed in the Chancery offices at 233 Scotia St. in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Mandated by canon law to care for its operational and historical records, the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg maintains the Archives as a repository for the care and conservation of, and access to, documents relating to the functions of the Archeparchy in the historical context. Requests for service may be made by telephone, fax or e-mail.

The history of the Archives as a professional repository began in 1985 under the leadership of Metropolitan Archbishop Maxim Hermaniuk, CSsR, who appointed Sister Cornelia Mantyka, SSMI, the first archivist. Metropolitan Maxim, scholar and academic, realized the Archeparchy required a trained archivist to organize valuable papers housed in the archives, and to render these documents more accessible to the Chancery Administration. In order to meet her responsibilities, Sister Cornelia joined the Manitoba Council of Archives (now called the Association for Manitoba Archives, or AMA) and adopted the professional standards promoted by the organization at that time. Sister Cornelia created finding aids, usually in the form of file or box lists, of the correspondence of Bishop Nykyta Budka, Bishop Vasyl Ladyka, OSBM, deceased clergy, and to a limited extent, correspondence of Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk.

In 1991, Sister Cornelia retired from her position and was succeeded for a short period of two years by Nicholas Yakimyshen. Mr. Yakimyshen assisted in the Archives during the transition of Metropolitan Hermaniuk into retirement, and the installation of Metropolitan Michael Bzdel, CSsR.

In 1999, the current archivist, Gloria Romaniuk joined the Chancery staff, first as a volunteer, and in 2003 as part-time paid archivist. Similar to Sister Cornelia, Gloria has availed herself of the professional training provided by the AMA, as well as computer training, records and information management and Ukrainian language courses, through the universities of Winnipeg and of Manitoba.

Through the efforts of Chancellor Michael Winn and the archivist, in 2002 the Archeparchial Archives was accredited as an institutional member of the AMA. Accreditation as an institutional member allowed the Archives to apply for funding in 2003 to process the Papers of Metropolitan Hermaniuk, and then in 2005, to complete Phase I of the Metropolitan Hermaniuk Photo Collection project.

Through the assistance of the AMA and the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA), a finding aid at the series level has been created for Metropolitan Hermaniuk’s Papers, and to date some four hundred of approximately 1500 photos have been processed. Furthermore, in 2003, through the AMA and CCA the Archeparchial Archives received a Global Preservation Assessment, providing a professional review of the storage facilities and recommendations for minor improvements.

From accreditation forward, each year the Archives has embraced a major undertaking along the lines of the two projects in 2003 and 2005. In 2004, the archivist worked closely with the Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Cook’s Creek, prior to the designation of the church as a national heritage site. In 2006, in partnership with the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, and with the St. Boniface Historical Society, the Archives participated in a project called Women and Education. During the course of the project, the archivist selected and scanned two hundred photos from the Chronicles of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, in their capacities as educators in the Ukrainian Catholic Religious Educational Centre from 1977 to 2000. These images are available to the public through links with the University of Manitoba and the Archeparchial websites.

In 2007-2008, the Archeparchial Archives joined in a second digital partnership with the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, and with a new partner, the University of Calgary, in the project called Landmarks, Monuments and Built Heritage of the West. UCAW Archives contributed three hundred and forty-nine photos, blueprints, documents, and audio-visual clips for digitization, from the collections of Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, Fr. Philip Ruh, OMI, Fr. Jaropolk Radkewycz, and others. Since autumn, 2009, researchers have been able to visit the material online, again through links with the U of M Archives and Special Collections and the Archeparchial websites.

A third digital project in partnership with our colleagues at the U of M Archives and Special Collections is called Prairie Prestige: How Western Canadian Artists Have Influenced the Canadian Art Scene. In this project, the Archives of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) has participated as a third member in the partnership. From the UCAW Archives, eighty-three textual documents, including photos and sketches have been selected from the Leo Mol fonds; and seventy-three photos have been selected from the Sterling Demchinsky Photo Collection, all depicting the expression of art in the Ukrainian Catholic context. These materials will be available to researchers through links with the University of Manitoba and the Archeparchial websites in autumn, 2010.

Links to digital projects:

Click on “Women in Religious Education”

Click on “Landmarks, Monuments and Built Heritage of the West”

Link to "Prairie Prestige" pending.

The Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg Archives strives to protect the historic record which relays the story of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. For additional information, or to make an appointment, please contact the Archives at:

Telephone: 1-204-338-7801 Fax: 1-204-339-4006 email: uccarchives@gmail.com

Gloria Romaniuk Archivist

3 July 2010

page updated on: February 01, 2012

Copyright © 1996-2008 Archeparchy of Winnipeg