Collection “Documents on the activities of the «Prosvita» society (1894 -1941 years)” includes the following series: I. "Organizational documentation of the "Prosvita" society. II. "Documents of scientific activity of the society". III. "Correspondence of the "Prosvita" society".
Колекція: "Документи про діяльність товариства «Просвіта» (1894-1941 рр.)" включає наступні серії: І. «Організаційна документація товариства «Просвіта». ІІ. «Документи наукової активності товариства». ІІІ. «Кореспонденція товариства «Просвіта».
Extent: Collection includes 356 files containing 7828 folios.
Custodial history: From the beginning of the activity of the Ukrainian cultural and educational “Prosvita” society in Lviv in 1868, the office of the society kept books of minutes of meetings of the board and commissions of the society, texts of directive materials (instructions, regulations, announcements), documents of reporting and organization of current work, information on the organizational status and activities of the society, registration of established branches, correspondence with state bodies, Ukrainian institutions, and individuals. In 1919, the “Prosvita” society was closed in Lviv, but in the early 1920-s, it gradually resumed its activities, expanding to Volyn, Polissya, Podlasie, and the Kholmshchyna. As a result of repressions in the early 1930-s, branches and reading rooms of “Prosvita” remained only in Galicia. Due to the war and pogroms (in 1928 and 1938), the documents of the Main Board of the society were only partially preserved. In the fall of 1939, the society ceased its activities in connection with the establishment of Soviet rule in the west of Ukraine, and the society's documents were transferred to the archives of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. The manuscripts department of the NTSh library was structurally part of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in Lviv, formerly the Ossolinsky Library. As can be seen from the inventory of documents of the manuscripts department of the NTSh Library for October 1944, these documents were transferred in separate parts and at different times during the Society's activities in 1920-1930 : № 533 - Archives of the “Prosvita” society; № 636 – “Prosvita” collection (1923); № 599 – “Prosvita” in Kamianets-Podilskyi (2 bundles [?]); № 1374 – “Prosvita” Reading Room in Turotyn; № 1414 – “Prosvita” in Lutsk; and three deposits: №. 110 - a collection of "Prosvita" (crossed out, ink note on the side: "Selected 5.XII.1941); № 172 - a collection of protocols of the "Prosvita" reading room in Novyi Sanch; No. 244 - Notes from "Prosvita" (autographs). The date of receipt is 31.05.1940. In addition, there is a list of literature transferred to the NTS library (1926-1928). In the summer of 1941, during the temporary German occupation, some leaders resumed the activities of the society in Lviv. After the establishment of soviet rule, most of the documents in the society's archives came into the possession of the archival department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR and were transported to Kyiv and transferred to the Central State Archives in Kyiv on August 9, 1947. The "Report on the analysis of the group of materials under the general title: “Prosvita”" referred to the identification of separate independent founds: "Main Office of the “Prosvita” society in Lviv" / Volume 2670 items and 360 kg of placer (accurate accounting). "Kremenets district “Prosvita” / 110 kg of placer (approximate). "Lutsk district “Prosvita” / 180 kg of placer (approximate) "Kovel district “Prosvita” / 60 kg of placer (approximate). "Volodymyr-Volyn regional “Prosvita” / volume 30 kg (approximate). "Kamianets-Podilskyi regional “Prosvita” / volume 5 kg (approximate). Allocated for scrap - 100 kg (approximate). Other people's funds in the lining - 20 kg (approx.). 12/VIII 49" . The Osobyi department of funds of the CSHA in Kyiv compiled "Selection list № 23 for documentary materials of the fund of the "Main Committee of the “Prosvita” society" in Lviv, as having neither historical nor practical significance”. It reads, in particular: "Collection size: 2670 items and 360 kg for the years 1874-1942. The charters, circulars, minutes, resolutions of meetings, reports, correspondence with branches, etc. are kept in the collection. Selected as not subject to storage: 1. Receipt stubs - 90 items. 2. Student notebooks of agricultural school pupils with a weight of 3 kg. 3. Rough notes of accounting, musical notes, scraps of book lists - 35 kg. 4. Blank forms - 20 kg. 5. Repeated copies of documents: circulars, announcements - 15 kg. Total 73 kg. placer - 90 items. The volume of the collection is 2670 items. 360 kg. 90 items were allocated. Left on file" . On 11.07.1950, the documentary materials according to this list were sent to the Central State Historic Archive of Ukraine in Lviv. In 1957, the commission left 90 files in secret storage. Based on the act of 3.02.1989, the fund of the “Prosvita” society was completely declassified. In 2018, the documents of inventory № 1 r. were merged with inventory № 1 into a single collection and made available to the public. A total of 367 files were declassified . Some of the documents of the “Prosvita” society's archive were evacuated to Poland in 1944, along with the documents of the manuscripts department of the NTSH library, during World War II. Near Wroclaw, these transports were bombed, and the broken chests in which the documents were stored ended up in the buildings of one of Countess von Pfail's manors in Adelina (now Zagrodno near Zolotoryia in Poland). They were found in 1945 during the first search expeditions conducted by Polish libraries. This is how the During World War II, some of the society's documents ofg Lviv archives ended up in the National Library in Warsaw. In 1946-1947 the documents were preliminarily organized. They were described in detail and microfilmed in the 1980-s. In May 1993, during the visit of Polish President Lech Walesa to Ukraine, six books of minutes of the “Prosvita” society were donated to the Ukrainian people. The microfilms of these documents were also transferred to the Central State Historic Archive of Ukraine in Lviv, which are available for use. Today, the documents of the “Prosvita” society's archives are stored in several places: most of them are in funds 348 of the Prosvita Society for 1868-1942 in the Central State Historic Archive of Ukraine in Lviv, which includes 7058 files, and fund 122 in the V. StefanykLviv National Library of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for 1919-1939, which includes some documents of the editorial board of the society's journal "Zhyttia i Znannia" for the 1930-s. For example, the Institute of Literature of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine now holds the archive of Ivan Beley (f. 100), which also contains some documents of the “Prosvita” society (№. 624-655 for 1870-1871 years). It is necessary to create an index and a unified digital source base of the preserved documents of the “Prosvita” society. These documents is an important source of information on the formation of national consciousness in the towns and villages of Galicia, Podillia, and Volhynia, and on the cultural and educational development of their population. 1. The Central State Historic Archive of Ukraine in Lviv (CSHA). – Fund. 309. – Description 2. – File 15; 2. CSHA. – Fund. 348. – Description 1. – File 6418; 3. CSHA. – Fund Р-49. – Description 1. – File 4; 4. CSHA. – Fund Р-49. – Description 1. – File 4.
Arrangement: This collection of digitized documents, , which has a name “Documents on the activities of the «Prosvita» society (1984 -1941 years)”, was created on a thematic basis. The collection includes the following series: I. "Organizational documentation of the "Prosvita" society. II. "Documents of scientific activity". III. Correspondence of the "Prosvita" society. Each of the three series of the collection has sub-series that clearly define the subject matter of the group of documents. A description of each file describes the content of individual documents in detail.
Author(s)/Creator(s): Board of the society «Prosvita», scientific, public and political figures who maintained relations with the society.
Scribe(s): Board of the society «Prosvita».
Publisher(s): Publisher: the Shevchenko Scientific Society, Lviv.
Volume and issue number: 212 files / Fund 348, description 1, files: 1, 3, 6, 6а, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 110 а, 113-120, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16-20, 22-24, 142-165, 165а-221, 90-110, 25-56, 57-89, 121-141а, 222-362; Journal of the Society "Zhyttia i znannia" (1936-1939 years) (16 books).
