The Ukranian Institute of America, July 2006

Architectural details above the doorway to the Ukranian Institute of America, located in a historic mansion on E. 79th St. and 5th Avenue in Manhattan, NY.

From their web site:

The fundamental purpose of the Ukrainian Institute of America is to develop, sponsor and promote through educational, professional and social activities a greater awareness, understanding, knowledge and appreciation in the United States of the traditional and contemporary art, literature, music, culture, history and traditions of Ukraine, as revealed through its people, both in Ukraine and abroad. The Ukrainian Institute of America strives to strengthen the identity and community of individuals of Ukrainian descent by organizing and sponsoring exhibits, concerts, conferences, symposia and other educational, scholarship and professional activities.

About the Institute

Nestled in the midst of "Museum Mile", which includes the Guggenheim Museum and the Frick Collection, and diagonally across from the Metropolitan Museum on the southeast corner of 79th Street and 5th Avenue, is one of the most magnificent and regal turn-of-the-century mansions in New York City today. This French Renaissance style structure houses the jewel of the Ukrainian community: the Ukrainian Institute of America.

The history of the acquisition of the mansion by Mr. William Dzus, the founder of the Ukrainian Institute of America, dates back to 1898 when Isaac Fletcher, a banker and railroad investor, commissioned the famous architect C.P.H. Gilbert to build a house using William K. Vanderbilt's neo-Loire Valley chateau as its model, on the property which was originally the Lenox farm.

Mr. Fletcher was so pleased with his new home that he hired Jean Francois Raffaelli to paint a portrait of it; the painting, the mansion and the Fletcher's extensive art collection were all eventually bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1917.

Harry F. Sinclair, the founder of the Sinclair Oil Company, purchased the Fletcher Mansion in 1920 and sold it in 1930 to Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant. A bachelor and recluse, Augustus Stuyvesant occupied the mansion with his unmarried sister until her death in 1938, then lived out the remaining years of his life until 1953 with just his butler and footman to serve him.

William Dzus, inventor and owner of the Dzus Fastener Company in West Islip, Long Island, New York founded the Ukrainian Institute of America, Inc. in 1948, for the purpose of promoting Ukrainian art, culture, music, and literature. At that time, the Ukrainian Institute was located in the Parkwood mansion in West Islip, Long Island. The increasing membership and growth of the Institute prompted Mr. Dzus to search for a larger facility; he authorized the treasurer of the Dzus Fastener Company, Francis Clarke, to look for new, larger quarters in New York City.

The capacious Fletcher Mansion with its prestigious address and unique architectural style, was perfectly suited for the Ukrainian Institute and in 1955, the mansion was purchased by the Ukrainian Insitute of America corporation with with the charitable generosity and support of Mr. Dzus. In June of 1962 the mortgage was paid off and subsequently the Ukrainian Institute of America attained landmark status.

The Ukrainian Institute takes great pride in the fact that almost 50 years after moving into its new home at 2 East 79th Street, William Dzus' dreams and aspirations are still very much alive and thriving. Boasting a membership of over 400 people, some of the events sponsored by the Institute in the last year were: the Les Kurbas Theater performing a memorable apocrypha based on the writings of Lesia Ukrainka; a scholarly conference on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Mr. Hrushevsky's birth; a seminar with Adrian Karatnycky, President of the Freedom House, on "Ukraine, the United States and Russia"; commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster with an exhibit of photos, paintings and videos; and a business conference