This is a project of the Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema of Ukraine to digitize 12,000 museum objects and create a website with open access to a collection of memorabilia related to the renowned 20th century director Les Kurbas. The digitized items include photographs, manuscripts, documents, posters, set models, costume sketches, set designs, materials from the archives of the Young Theater,…
The digital collections of the National World War II Museum in Kyiv include several curated archival collections from the museum's holdings on topics pertaining to World War II and beyond. Users can browse by collection, with topics ranging from the Holocaust and children in WWII to the personal archive of Andrii Mykhalevych, a Ukrainian partisan fighter murdered by a KGB operation in 1951. You…
An online archive of Ukrainian revolution materials organized by month from May 1917-April 1921. Clicking each month leads to a page with archival documents and photos from that month in the revolution. These images come directly from the Central State Archives of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine (TsDAVO).
This is a website run by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) based in London. Digitized sources relate both to the OUN and nationalism, and to other topics in 20th century Ukrainian history. Includes oral history interviews of nationalist figures as well as other prominent Ukrainian figures, including video components.
This project collects and digitizes literary art magazines produced in Kharkiv between the 1910s and 1930s, valuable artifacts that are otherwise scattered throughout libraries in Ukraine and often in poor condition. These valuable artifacts are works dedicated to art and theater amid the background of early 20th century revolution, and constitute works of art themselves. The project ultimately…
Based in Lviv, the Center for Urban History houses digital projects pertaining to the urban history of Ukraine, especially Lviv. Since the beginning of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War, the Center has embarked on an intensive project to digitize more materials. Open access online sources are found on the "Digital" section of the Center's website. Most interesting is the "Urban Media Archive," a…
A collection of digitized archival documents on the political and social history of the Ukrainian revolution, 1917-1921. Documents largely pertain to the formation and governance of the independent Ukrainian People's Republic that existed between 1917 and 1921. The project has also compiled cultural sources from the period, including poetry and a playlist of revolutionary songs. The website also…
Ukrainica is a major database compiling reference, informational, and documentary sources on the broadest areas of Ukrainian history, culture, economics, and more. Its sources are archival, published, and manuscript documents and include materials created both within and without Ukraine, on all topics related to documenting the history and heritage of the Ukrainian people.
The VUFKU "Lost and Found" digital archive stores information, film, photos, and promotional materials from the Ukrainian film revolution of the 1920s-30s. Between 1922 and 1930, the All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration released hundreds of feature films, documentaries, newsreels, and cartoons that together constituted the heyday of "Ukrainian Hollywood." The database includes information on…
An electronic database compiling sources and information on Ukrainian and Russian cossacks from the 15th through 21st centuries. While many documents are secondary sources, researchers can find published archival document collections, visual sources including maps and illustrations, historical songs and ethnographic collections, and more.
A database of engravings depicting Ukraine or by Ukrainian artists from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Browse engravings by century or depicted country. The collection is especially rich in depictions of 19th century Odesa.
This collection of digitized materials from the V. I. Vernadsky National Library ranges from throughout Ukrainian culture and history. Researchers will find a great number of archival, visual, published, and audio sources spanning many centuries. This source is especially good for pre-20th century history. Users can search by collection, source type, or using the search function.
A go-to website for finding Ukrainian art and artists. Browse hundreds of digital scans of paintings, photographs, postcards, exhibition catalogues, rare books, and other sources from throughout Ukrainian history. Users can search by artist or keyword, or explore categories organized by art movement, medium, chronological period, and more. The section "eksklyusiv" (exclusive) found on the top menu…
Dedicated to celebrated Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, and intellectual Taras Shevchenko, also known as Kobzar ("the bard"). The collection includes scans of Shevchenko's original handwritten writings, published works, paintings and illustrations, and personal and biographical documents. Click the three-lines icon on the lefthand toolbar to access the menu.
An ongoing online project that aims to compile and make accessible the complete works of famed Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky. The digital collection includes works written, edited, and collaborated on by Hrushevsky; studies of Hrushevksy; his personal documents and correspondence as well as those of people close to him; archival, state, legal, and financial documents related to…
The Yad Vashem open access digital collections include a central database of Holocaust victims' names; an enormous photo archive of Jewish life before, during and after the Holocaust, including in Ukraine; a database of "the righteous among the nations", those who helped Jews (1448 records for Ukrainian persons — you can then filter by profession, religion, and gender); a large number of digitized…
A search for keyword "Ukraine" on the New York Public Library online archive brings up 1115 results. Sources in Judaica and Jewish history are especially rich, as well photos, illustrations, and other religious documents. The NYPL has also digitized its collection "Peasant art of subcarpathian Russia," comprising photos of physical artifacts and material culture from Zakarpattia. Researchers can…
The online document exhibitions of the Central State Historical Archive reveal a rich array of metric books, law books, parish registers, and religious and military documents from different Ukrainian provinces over several centuries. One can find metric book information on various religious communities, including Jews, Lutherans, and Orthodox Christians.
A completely digitized collection of archival documents, photos, newsreels, and academic articles on the history of the Babyn Yar region of Kyiv from the late 18th century through the 21st century. Many sources are dedicated to the massacre of 34,000 Jews in Babyn Yar in 1941, and more generally to the Holocaust and WWII in region. Researchers will also find sources on all aspects of life in the…
The Chernobyl archive, a project by the Chernobyl Historical Workshop, is designed to preserve and transmit the history of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. It comprises over 200 oral history interviews and written essays by first responders, liquidators, displaced persons, and others who experienced or were affected by the disaster. Interviews are available in both audio and written transcript…