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Vasyl' and Liudmyla Serdiuk Papers

 Collection
Identifier: g-5

Scope and Contents

The Vasy'l and Liudmyla Serdiuk Papers contain material relating to their lives in Western Ukraine, Germany, and the United States. As professional actors and directors, the collection has extensive material related to the Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American theater. This includes correspondence with other actors and directors, originals and photocopies of theater programs from pre-WWII Western Ukraine, post-war Germany, and the USA, correspondence related to the publication of the periodical "Holos Aktora" ("Voice of the Actor"), and a substantial number of photographs of theater people and theatrical productions in pre-war Western Ukraine and the USA after the war.

In addition, the Serdiuks were very active members of the St. George Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Yardville, NJ, and the collection includes a large number of photographs documenting parish life in the 1970s and '80s.

Dates

  • 1924 - 1988

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for researcher use. Please contact the archivist (archives@ukrhec.org) for more information and to make arrangements.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Biographical / Historical

Vasyl' and Liudmyla (or Ludmila) Serdiuk were actors in Ukrainian theater companies in L'viv and other Ukrainian areas of the inter-War Polish Republic. Liudmyla was born Liudmyla Targoni on May 6, 1899 in the village of Nimovychi, Volyn' region of Ukraine to Antin and Mokryna Targoni. In 1924 she began acting in various touring theater companies, including "Emihrant", "Zahrava" and the "I. Kotliarevs'kyi Theater". Vasyl' Serdiuk was born in 1900. He fought in the Ukrainian War of Independence, after which he became an actor and theater director in Western Ukraine. Vasyl' and Liudmyla married in 1928. By 1939 Liudmyla was acting in resident theater companies in L'viv, including the Lesia Ukrainka Dramatic Theater and the L'viv Opera Theater, where her husband was a director. They emigrated to the USA in 1949 via German DP camps and settled in Trenton, NJ. They continued to be active as actors and directors of professional and amature Ukrainian-American theater groups, including the "Teatral'na Studia Molodi" in Trenton and "Teatr u Piatnytsiu" in Philadelphia, and as members of the Association of Ukrainian Theatre Artists ("Obiednannia Mysttsiv Ukrains'koi Stseny"). The Serdiuks were also very active in the St. George Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Yardville, NJ and in the Ukrainian-American community. Liudmyla died on July 13, 1984, and Vasyl' died on September 11, 1993.

Extent

0.7 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

Ukrainian

Abstract

This collection contains material relating to the lives of Vasyl' and Liudmyla Serdiuk. It primarily documents their work in the theater in Western Ukraine and the United States through correspondence, programs, and photographs. It also documents the activities of the St. George Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Yardville, NJ in an extensive collection of photographs.

Arrangement

Arranged in seven series as follows

  1. Correspondence
  2. Theater and concert programs, ephemera
  3. L. Serdiuk materials
  4. Documents
  5. Periodical articles
  6. Third-party material
  7. Photographs
Title
Guide to the Vasyl' and Liudmyla Serdiuk Papers
Status
Completed
Author
M. Andrec
Date
9-28-2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives Repository

Contact:
135 Davidson Ave.
Somerset NJ 08873 USA
732-356-0132