Ukrainian Communities in Maryland — Yes, Even on the Eastern Shore!
Ukraine and U.S. flags. Photo: Beverly Lussier via Pixabay
A Chinatown, a Little Italy, and other such communities are found in most large cities. But who knew that there are vibrant Ukrainian communities across America? And there have been for well over a century. Yes, even in Maryland and on the Eastern Shore.
In fact, the very first immigrant from Ukraine came to North America as early as 1607. Ukrainian Ivan Bohdan sailed to Jamestown, Va., with John Smith. Bohdan had befriended Smith when that English explorer and adventurer was fleeing from captivity during the Long Turkish War of 1593-1606.
Ukrainians have been coming to America ever since, though mainly in low numbers until the late 1870s when the first large wave of Ukrainians to the U.S. began. This wave continued into the first decade of the 20th Century. Most of these immigrants went to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, though there were communities in other states, principally Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and North Dakota, as well as enclaves in both Alaska (from the 1860s) and Hawaii (starting in 1895). At first, most of the immigrants were men who generally worked in the mines, mills, and factories, though a few, especially in North Dakota, took up farming. By World War I, 98% of the roughly 350,000 Ukrainian immigrants were settled in the northeastern states, with 70% in Pennsylvania. From there, many spread south into Delaware and Maryland. One of those early large Ukrainian enclaves was in Baltimore. The greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan area along with Pennsylvania is still — over 100 years later — the home to the largest numbers of Ukrainian-born or -descended residents.
The next big wave of Ukrainian immigration started after World War II when about 80,000 Ukrainian refugees were re-settled in the U.S. between 1947 and the early- to mid-1950s. Quite a few came to the Eastern Shore. One of Common Sense’s staff writers, George Shivers, recalls knowing such a family when he was growing up in a small town just outside of Salisbury.
The next major influx of Ukrainians occurred in the 1990s when thousands of Ukrainians left after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. That same year, Ukraine became an independent nation. International travel and emigration became easier, and many Ukrainians took advantage of the opportunity, moving for political, economic, and/or religious reasons to the U.S. and other western countries.
Today Ukrainian Americans in the U.S. number over a million, making the U.S. home to the second largest Ukrainian population outside of Europe. The largest is located in our neighbor to the north, Canada. Many Ukrainians emigrated first to Canada then south to the US.
Today, there is still a large Ukrainian community in the Baltimore area, with smaller pockets of Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants throughout Maryland. For example, in the early 2000s, Pikesville, at 4.5%, had the 13th highest percentage in the U.S. of residents born in Ukraine. By 2020, that percentage had decreased to 2.8% while Reisterstown’s Ukraine-born population had grown to 3.3%.
In Wilmington, Del., there are two Ukrainian churches — St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church and Saints Peter & Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Rev. Stephen Hutnick, the priest at Sts. Peter and Paul, is also the minister of a Ukrainian church just south of the Delaware border in Whaleyville, Md.
Ukraine has become a popular country for U.S. couples to adopt children from because Ukraine’s regulations make the process both quicker and less expensive than adoptions from most other countries. While the exact number is not known, there are quite a few such adopted children on the Eastern Shore. The current Russian invasion has interrupted adoptions currently in process.
Pysanky, or traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs. Photo: Alisa Mizikar via Pixabay
In recent years, many Ukrainian young people have spent their summers working at various beach resorts in Delaware and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. If you’ve eaten in a restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Del., or Ocean City or other Maryland beach resorts, there’s a good chance you were served by one of the many young Ukrainians spending their summers there earning money and learning English. It’s unknown at this point how many of these seasonal workers from Ukraine will be able to come this summer. Fundraisers to send aid to Ukraine have been started by several organizations and businesses in these resort towns, including the Berlin Sconer and the Purple Parrot in Rehoboth.
If you would like to help Ukrainian war refugees, there are several organizations with direct contacts to communities in Ukraine.
A Ukraine Emergency Fund has been opened by The Associated Jewish Federation of Baltimore with all donations going to provide support to Odessa and other communities in Ukraine. Donations to can be made at associated.org/Ukraine or call the Donor Center team at 410-369-9300 or mail a check to:
The Associated Jewish Federation of Baltimore Attn: Donor Center,
101 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21201
The St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., suggests that people send a check to:
Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
810 N. Franklin St.,
Philadelphia PA 19123
Please write on the check “Humanitarian Aid Fund for Ukraine.”
Or donate on the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s website: click on Donate through PayPal and select War Victims and Humanitarian Crisis in Ukraine.
Sources and more information:
"Top 101 cities with the most residents born in Ukraine (population 500+),” City-Data
https://www.city-data.com/top2/h65.html
“Why the fight in Ukraine is deeply personal for some people in coastal Maryland, Delaware,” Emily Lytle, Delmarva Now, Mar. 3, 2022
“Ukrainian Americans", Every Culture https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/Ukrainian-Americans.html
St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church, Baltimore, Md.
https://www.stmichaelukrainiancatholicbaltimore.org/
“History of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church,” St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, Wilmington, Del.
https://stnicholaschurchde.org/church-history/
“The History of Ukrainian Immigration to the US,” Ukrainian American Media
https://uapost.us/en/blog/the-history-of-ukrainian-immigration-to-the-us/
U.S. Census Bureau, "American FactFinder — Results". factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
Jane Jewell is a writer, editor, photographer, and teacher. She has worked in news, publishing, and as the director of a national writer's group. She lives in Chestertown with her husband Peter Heck, a ginger cat named Riley, and a lot of books.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
