Greetings of Friendship from the Putiatynce School to the United States, 1926

In the spring of 1926, the pupils and teachers of the public school in Putiatynce (Putyatyntsi), in Rohatyn district, signed their names to a greeting of friendship to the people of the United States of America. The greeting honored the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Their two signature pages, dated 10 May 1926, survive today in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The village’s name also appears as Putiatyntsi, Putyatintsi and Putiatynci, and in Ukrainian as Путятинці.

A birthday greeting from Putiatynce

Following World War I, Poland occupied and annexed Western Ukraine after a series of military conflicts and diplomatic treaties between 1918 and 1923. These pages belong to the Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, a gift of 111 volumes carrying about 5.5 million signatures, nearly one-sixth of Poland’s population at the time (including annexed Eastern Galicia and Western Volhynia). Government officials, churches, universities and organizations signed, and so did schoolchildren from thousands of elementary schools across the country, including villages as small as Putiatynce. The volumes were presented to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House in October 1926, and he had them transferred to the Library of Congress that November. Because so many children signed, the collection is today a valuable resource for family history.

The Putiatynce pages are in Volume 70, which covers schools from Rawa Ruska to Rudki districts.

The Putiatynce pages

The printed heading on the first page reads “Szkolnictwo polskie w hołdzie narodowi amerykańskiemu na pamiątkę 150-lecia niepodległości Stanów Zjednoczonych”, meaning “Polish schools in homage to the American nation, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the independence of the United States.”

Below it, the school filled in its details: a three-class mixed public school (szkoła powszechna 3-klasowa mieszana) in Putiatynce, Rohatyn district, with Stepan Volak (Stefan Wolak) as trustee, Oleksandr Haftar (Aleksander Haftar) as principal and Mykhailo Kulchytskyi (Michał Kulczycki) as school inspector. The children then signed in two columns, continuing onto a second page. The second page closes with the signatures of the teachers, the date “Putiatyńce 10 maja 1926” (Putiatynce, 10 May 1926) and the stamp of the State Three-Class Public School in Putiatynce.

The names

Names are listed surname first, in alphabetical order, in their Ukrainian spelling. In parentheses is the Polish spelling as written on the original pages, which is how the names appear in the Library of Congress collection. When comparing spellings, keep in mind that Polish w is v, cz is ch, sz is sh, ć is ts and ł is l. For example, Hnatkiw is Hnatkiv, Kowba is Kovba and Szweć is Shvets. Volak may also be spelled Voliak, Wolak, Wołak or Woliak, and Baluk may also be spelled Baliuk.

School officials and teachers

• Borysova Maria (Borysowa Marja), teacher
• Haftar Oleksandr (Haftar Aleksander), principal and teacher
• Kulchytskyi Mykhailo (Kulczycki Michał), school inspector
• Senchynova Anna (Senczynowa Anna), teacher
• Volak Stepan (Wolak Stefan), school trustee

Pupils on page 1

• Andrievskyi Stepan (Andrijewski Stefan)
• Baluk Kateryna (Baluk Katarzyna)
• Bilous Maria (Bilous Marja)
• Dorofei Anna (Dorofej Anna)
• Galuga Paraskevia (Galuga Paraskewja)
• Galuga Yurko (Galuga Jurko)
• Hnatkiv Danylo (Hnatkiw Danyło)
• Hnatkiv Maria (Hnatkiw Marja)
• Hnatkiv Mykhailo (Hnatkiw Michał)
• Hnatkiv Paraskevia (Hnatkiw Paraskewja)
• Ivantsiv Klymentiy (Iwanciw Klemens)
• Kisil Adam
• Kisil Anastasia (Kisil Anastazja)
• Kovba Ahafia (Kowba Ahafja)
• Kovba Hryhoriy (Kowba Grzegorz)
• Kovba Mykola (Kowba Mikołaj)
• Kovba Senko (Kowba Seńko)
• Kovtun Ahafia (Kowtun Ahafja)
• Kryk Nastia
• Kuch Mykhailo (Kucz Michał)
• Kuchmiy Maria (Kuczmij Marja)
• Kutsyi Ivan (Kucy Jan)
• Lohai Anna (Logaj Anna)
• Narivnyi Ivan (Nariwny Jan)
• Nyshchuk Ivan (Nyszczuk Jan)
• Paduchak Stepan (Paduczak Stefan)
• Romankiv Mykhailo (Romankiw Michał)
• Ruda Paraskevia (Ruda Paraskewja)
• Rudyi Petro (Rudy Piotr)
• Skyba Mykola (Skyba Mikołaj)
• Sobkiv Mykola (Sobkiw Mikołaj)
• Titska Nastia (Ticka Nastia)
• Vladyka Maria (Władyka Marja)
• Yanitska Maria (Janicka Marja)
• Yeyna Maria (Jejna Marja)

Pupils on page 2

• Baran Kateryna (Baran Katarzyna)
• Cherevata Maria (Czerewata Marja)
• Cherevatyi Ivan (Czerewatyj Jan)
• Dorofei Maria (Dorofej Marja)
• Dorofei Paranka (Dorofej Parańka)
• Dorofei Yevdokia (Dorofej Ewdokja)
• Galuga Anastasia (Galuga Anastazja)
• Harasymchuk Yeva (Harasymczuk Ewa)
• Hnatkiv Ivan (Hnatkiw Jan)
• Hnatkiv Kateryna (Hnatkiw Katarzyna)
• Hnatkiv Symon (Hnatkiw Szymon)
• Hnatkiv Volodymyr (Hnatkiw Włodzimierz)
• Holovka Adam (Hołowka Adam)
• Ivantsiv Fedir (Iwanciw Teodor)
• Kisil Anna
• Kisil Kateryna (Kisil Katarzyna)
• Kisil Petro (Kisil Piotr)
• Kovba Maria (Kowba Marja)
• Kovba Petro (Kowba Piotr)
• Kuchmiy Petro (Kuczmij Piotr)
• Liva Maria (Liwa Marja)
• Martsinkovska Anastasia (Marcinkowska Anastazja)
• Mukha Adam (Mucha Adam)
• Okrepka Maria (Okrepka Marja)
• Onufryk Olha (Onufryk Olga)
• Pavlukh Fedir (Pawluch Teodor)
• Pavlukh Vasyl (Pawluch Wasyl)
• Popivna Olha (Popiwna Olga)
• Romankiv Mykola (Romankiw Mikołaj)
• Romankiv Petro (Romankiw Piotr)
• Romankiv Yurko (Romankiw Jurko)
• Shak Volodymyr (Szak Włodzimierz)
• Shvets Stepan (Szweć Stefan)
• Skrobach Petro (Skrobacz Piotr)
• Strilets Mykola (Striłeć Mikołaj)
• Sveryda Vasyl (Sweryda Wasyl)
• Titska Maria (Ticka Marja)
• Titskyi Petro (Tickyj Piotr)
• Vladyka Anna (Władyka Anna)
• Volak Ivan (Wolak Jan)
• Volak Petro (Wolak Piotr)
• Volak Stepan (Wolak Stefan)
• Volak Vasyl (Wolak Wasyl)
• Yanitskyi Mykhailo (Janicki Michał)
• Yatskivska Maria (Jackiwska Marja)
• Yeyna Ivan (Jejna Jan)

Імена українською

Учні та вчителі Державної трикласної загальної школи в Путятинцях, Рогатинський повіт, 10 травня 1926 року.

See the originals at the Library of Congress

• Putiatynce school, page 1 of 2 (Volume 70, image 87)
• Putiatynce school, page 2 of 2 (Volume 70, image 88)
• Volume 70: Rawa Ruska–Rudki
• About the Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship collection

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, mss36483, volume 70.

More from Putiatynce

• Illiterate and Voiceless: The Steep Road Awaiting Putiatyńce’s Emigrants, on how schooling came to the village
• Putyatyntsi Amateur Theater Group (1912), with many of the same family names
• Panorama of Putyatyntsi (1930), the village as these children knew it
• “Dwarf Plots” and Grand Estates: The Galician Census Tells a Story
• America’s Ukrainian Community Salutes 250 Years of Independence, a century after this greeting

Do you recognize a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent among these names? Please share what you know in the comments.