On blogging history: a response to some critics

On March 15, I published a short article entitled, "Bishop Joseph Zuk: A brief biographical overview." I opened the article with this paragraph: Joseph A. Zuk was the first Ukrainian Orthodox bishop in America, but little has been written about his life. I don’t know a lot, but from the sources...

Programming Note

It will be pretty quiet here at OH.org this week, as I'm traveling to the Chicago area to speak at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church. For all the details, see this post. I hope to see some of our readers there. I've got a lot of other irons in the...

Reduced registration fees for SOCHA symposium at Princeton

Just a reminder: Our inaugural symposium at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary is coming up on September 30 - October 1, 2011. More information is available at a web page set up by Princeton's Florovsky Society. Thanks to some additional funding, we've been able to cut the registration fees...

Bishop Joseph Zuk: A brief biographical overview

Joseph A. Zuk was the first Ukrainian Orthodox bishop in America, but little has been written about his life. I don't know a lot, but from the sources I've collected, we can piece together a brief biographical sketch. This isn't much, but I thought it might be worthwhile to get...

Bishop Nestor appeals to President Hayes, 1880

The following article appeared in the New York Times on March 23, 1880, detailing an early communication between Nestor Zass, the Russian Bishop of Alaska and the Rutherford B. Hayes, the President of the United States. WASHINGTON, March 22. -- On Saturday last the President received a letter from Bishop...

Chicago-area lecture on March 23

I've mentioned this before, but I wanted to let readers know that I'll be speaking in the Chicago area on Wednesday, March 23. My lecture, which will focus on the early history of Orthodoxy in Chicago (roughly the mid-1880s through the mid-1890s), will take place at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox...

A Short Introduction to the Armenian Church in the United States

Editor's note: Today, we're pleased to introduce a new contributor -- Aram Sarkisian, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, has extensively studied both Armenian and Russian Orthodox history in America. He has familial ties with both Churches, and we're very glad that he will be sharing his expertise here...

The Kodiak Bell in the LA Times, 1923

Editor's note: The following article appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 13, 1923, and was entitled, "Tolls Story of Old California." An old and battered bell, hanging in an orange grove where Ramona played in the days of her childhood, rang a new note in the song of...

The Kodiak Bell should be returned to Alaska

  On February 4, I wrote an article on an 18th century Russian bell that currently hangs in an old Roman Catholic mission in California. Thanks to Mr. Clifford Argue, I have since learned a great deal more about the Kodiak Bell, and I am convinced that this bell needs...