Many Canadians have a historical connection to Ukraine, the country facing invasion by Russia right now.
While many are in the prairies, Vancouver also saw its fair share of people coming from the area now known as Ukraine, even before the modern nation-state formed. Over the years Ukrainian-Canadians have played a variety of roles in the city, while sharing their culture.
The photos kept by the City of Vancouver Archives show a vibrant history, with a particular love of music. A large number of the photos show Vancouver's early Ukrainian community (at least in the archives) show orchestras and choirs, with mandolins in hand.
There are also photos of families, gathered for portraits, thanks to the donation from Yucho Chow's family. He took photos of many of Vancouver's immigrant families, including Ukrainian families from as early as 1917, before the Ukrainian nation we know now existed.
Along with the photos, the city archives has a variety of pamphlets from cultural events; unfortunately, they aren't online. However, scanning through them you can see the many different types of events, like a festival for Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (whose name is also used for a local Ukrainian language school) and a visit by the Ukrainian Dance Company from Kyiv to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 1966.
