American Ruthenian National Council

American Ruthenian National Council (Американська руська народна рада; Amerykanska ruska narodna rada). Consisting of representatives of parishes, religious organizations, and clerical circles, the council was founded on 8 December 1914 by Bishop Soter Ortynsky in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Its purpose was to aid the victims of the First World War in the Ukrainian territories of Austria-Hungary and to voice the political aspirations of the Ukrainian population. In 1916, after the death of Ortynsky, under the influence of the Ukrainian National Association and the Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics in America, the organization changed its name to the Ukrainian Alliance of America. In 1918 it changed its name again to the Ukrainian National Committee (United States), realigned its executive to include disenchanted former members of the Federation of Ukrainians in the United States and selected Petro Poniatyshyn as its leader.

[This article was updated in 2021.]