By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri Krasov
Following Positively Cleveland’s suggestion to discover the unexpected side of the city, I found out that it’s heavily populated by my fellow Eastern Europeans. From Slavic-sounding surnames to familiar-looking faces, the city, located between Midwest and East Coast, seemed trying to meet this Ukrainian turned Californian half-way… By the end of my short trip I felt like parting with an old neighbor, or a new friend.
My first nostalgic visit was to The Ukrainian Museum Archives (www.umacleveland.org). Located in a former orphanage building, opened during the influenza epidemic of 1918, the museum was founded in 1952 to preserve the legacy of several waves of immigration from Ukraine. Ukrainians started coming to the area in time of the American Industrial Revolution to work at steel mills, and continued to immigrate to escape wars and revolutions that were tearing their native land apart in the 20th century.
The museum carefully preserves and displays rare artifacts, like a map of Ukrainian Diaspora published in 1920; a photograph of Ukrainian WWI veterans visiting the White House in 1922 to meet President Harding, the Ohio native; and an enormous archive of Ukrainian periodicals, private letters, photographs, journals, and other written and printed materials. In the museum library I found early editions of many familiar from my school years poetry books by Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, and collections of songs, forever prevalent in Ukrainian folklore.
An amazing collection of Ukrainian folk art, from painted Easter eggs to full costumes and room interiors, is presented in great style in a few available galleries, offering a glimpse directly into live history. Many artifacts, books, and archival materials were supplied by the members of a vibrant and active community, consisting of approximately 20 thousand ethnic Ukrainians, and 20 thousand Ukrainian Jews who call Cleveland home.
A visit to The Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum (www.clevelandstyle.com) revealed details of Slovenian cultural history and the original polka music, later intertwined with German, Austrian, Polish, Slovakian and Romanian styles. Since Slovenians first arrived in America in the 1880s, polka absorbed American influences, like gospel, jazz, and swing. In Cleveland, Chicago, and Milwaukee, polka used to be very popular before the advance of rock-n-roll, back in the mid 1940s to mid 1950s. Loved by the Big Bands and Hollywood, and brought by television into every household in the nation, until today, the uplifting and energizing music (nothing in polka is written in a minor key) plays in restaurants and breweries during widely celebrated Oktoberfest. The museum holds music archives, records and photographs of the polka performers-Grammy award winners, button accordions and stage outfits of polka stars.
Slavic Village in Cleveland is a traditionally Polish neighborhood with the Neo-Gothic ornate Church of St. Stanislaus at its center (www.ststanislaus.org). From first immigrants at the end of the 19th century to more contemporary arrivals Polish community settled around the “Mother Church of Cleveland,” forming a neighborhood with its own cultural and political character. Today, third and forth-generation parents bring their children to classes here to keep up with the language and their roots.
In a grandiose Rockefeller Park and the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, there are about 25 uniquely designed spaces dedicated to the ancestors of various ethnic groups that define the city’s diversity. There are Armenian, Azerbaijanian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and Hebrew gardens among others.
For a culinary Slavic experience, there is hardly a better place to dine in than restaurant Europa (
www.restauranteuropacleveland.com), well-attended by local Russian-speakers and Russian vodka lovers. Chef Asta, originally from Lithuania, puts on the table an array of Russian delicacies, like borsch, beef Stroganoff, and stuffed cabbage.
A nod to French cuisine, highly esteemed by Russian diners, comes in a plateful of foie gras creatively garnished with sautéed green grapes, and in various Provencal specialties.
Europa’s big attraction is Vodka Room, (formerly known as freezer, I guess) where guests are invited to wear fur hats and coats before downing a shot of Russian vodka. Painted on the wall glaciers are supposed to provide the necessary atmosphere. More information at:
http://www.positivelycleveland.com/.
Following Positively Cleveland’s suggestion to discover the unexpected side of the city, I found out that it’s heavily populated by my fellow Eastern Europeans. From Slavic-sounding surnames to familiar-looking faces, the city, located between Midwest and East Coast, seemed trying to meet this Ukrainian turned Californian half-way… By the end of my short trip I felt like parting with an old neighbor, or a new friend.
My first nostalgic visit was to The Ukrainian Museum Archives (www.umacleveland.org). Located in a former orphanage building, opened during the influenza epidemic of 1918, the museum was founded in 1952 to preserve the legacy of several waves of immigration from Ukraine. Ukrainians started coming to the area in time of the American Industrial Revolution to work at steel mills, and continued to immigrate to escape wars and revolutions that were tearing their native land apart in the 20th century.
The museum carefully preserves and displays rare artifacts, like a map of Ukrainian Diaspora published in 1920; a photograph of Ukrainian WWI veterans visiting the White House in 1922 to meet President Harding, the Ohio native; and an enormous archive of Ukrainian periodicals, private letters, photographs, journals, and other written and printed materials. In the museum library I found early editions of many familiar from my school years poetry books by Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, and collections of songs, forever prevalent in Ukrainian folklore.
An amazing collection of Ukrainian folk art, from painted Easter eggs to full costumes and room interiors, is presented in great style in a few available galleries, offering a glimpse directly into live history. Many artifacts, books, and archival materials were supplied by the members of a vibrant and active community, consisting of approximately 20 thousand ethnic Ukrainians, and 20 thousand Ukrainian Jews who call Cleveland home.
A visit to The Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum (www.clevelandstyle.com) revealed details of Slovenian cultural history and the original polka music, later intertwined with German, Austrian, Polish, Slovakian and Romanian styles. Since Slovenians first arrived in America in the 1880s, polka absorbed American influences, like gospel, jazz, and swing. In Cleveland, Chicago, and Milwaukee, polka used to be very popular before the advance of rock-n-roll, back in the mid 1940s to mid 1950s. Loved by the Big Bands and Hollywood, and brought by television into every household in the nation, until today, the uplifting and energizing music (nothing in polka is written in a minor key) plays in restaurants and breweries during widely celebrated Oktoberfest. The museum holds music archives, records and photographs of the polka performers-Grammy award winners, button accordions and stage outfits of polka stars.
Slavic Village in Cleveland is a traditionally Polish neighborhood with the Neo-Gothic ornate Church of St. Stanislaus at its center (www.ststanislaus.org). From first immigrants at the end of the 19th century to more contemporary arrivals Polish community settled around the “Mother Church of Cleveland,” forming a neighborhood with its own cultural and political character. Today, third and forth-generation parents bring their children to classes here to keep up with the language and their roots.
In a grandiose Rockefeller Park and the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, there are about 25 uniquely designed spaces dedicated to the ancestors of various ethnic groups that define the city’s diversity. There are Armenian, Azerbaijanian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and Hebrew gardens among others.
For a culinary Slavic experience, there is hardly a better place to dine in than restaurant Europa (www.restauranteuropacleveland.com), well-attended by local Russian-speakers and Russian vodka lovers. Chef Asta, originally from Lithuania, puts on the table an array of Russian delicacies, like borsch, beef Stroganoff, and stuffed cabbage.
A nod to French cuisine, highly esteemed by Russian diners, comes in a plateful of foie gras creatively garnished with sautéed green grapes, and in various Provencal specialties.
Europa’s big attraction is Vodka Room, (formerly known as freezer, I guess) where guests are invited to wear fur hats and coats before downing a shot of Russian vodka. Painted on the wall glaciers are supposed to provide the necessary atmosphere. More information at: http://www.positivelycleveland.com/.
0 comments:
Post a Comment