Ukrainians in Colorado

This is first in a new series on the many immigrant groups that make Colorado what it is today.

In 1976, Colorado and states across the nation hosted celebrations honoring a century of Ukrainian immigration. Officially, Ukrainian immigrants began entering the United States around 1876, however identifying the exact details is difficult because not all immigrants from the region identified as Ukrainian, and borders shifted several times. The most notable growth of Colorado’s Ukrainian population occurred after World War I. 

Throughout its history, in parts and as a whole, Ukraine was occupied by various entities such as Poland, the Astro-Hungarian Empire, Russia, and the USSR. There were also various ethnic groups in the area that, especially pre-nationalist movements, identified by ethnicity rather than nationality. Some early immigrants identified as “Rusyn,” a  derivative of Ruthenian, which refers to a Carpathian ethnic group and a language alternately identified with Ukraine or derivative of Ukrainian. Besides the “Rusyn” sounding like “Russian” to English-speaking ears, it is common to this day for English-speaking Americans to conflate Eastern Europeans and Russians. To make things more confusing, there are Rusyns who are citizens of Russia and other nations. The ancient name of Ukraine is also “Rus”. 

For reasons mentioned previously, it is difficult to determine exactly when Ukrainians began settling in Denver, but the early twentieth century saw an influx of many Eastern Europeans to work at the smelter in Globeville. Lev Bykovsky interviewed a number of people who had begun their new lives in the Globeville Community. Others settled in Pueblo to work at the Colorado Fuel and Iron steel mill. Ukrainian immigration increased following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. With the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War, this influx increased precipitously. 

In 1948, the US government passed a law allowing hundreds of thousands of Eastern Europeans, whose countries had fallen under Soviet control, to immigrate. By 1950, 13 new Ukrainian immigrant families had settled in Denver and the local American Ukrainian Association was established. Likewise, a Ukrainian Catholic parish was established. The church held services at St. Joseph’s Polish Church in Globeville until 1954 when they built their own church, the Transfiguration of Our Lord in the Sunnyside neighborhood. The church has become an important support hub for local Ukrainians. 

Denver Ukrainians have long celebrated their shared history with other immigrants from Eastern Europe, including local Lativian, Czech, and Polish organizations. In the 1960s, there were numerous parades and celebrations honoring “Captive Nations Week,” started by President Eisenhower in 1959. Ukrainians were often major participants in these events. They have also celebrated their periods of independence, such as in January 1965, when Colorado Governor John Love declared official recognition of the Ukrainian independence celebration of January 22; this honors the day that Eastern and Western Ukraine were united in 1919 under the Ukrainian republic.