Newspapers and magazines

No less interesting is the collection of almost 4,000 magazine issues, striking in its variety: the pre-revolutionary “Agronomicheskii Zhurnal”, “Gornozavodskoe Delo”, “Repertuar i Panteon” (a theatre magazine), “Budilnik” and “Strekoza” (satirical); magazines of the Soviet period such as “Vestnik Sovetskoi Yustitsii na Ukraine” (1922), “Komunarka Ukrainy” (1923–1929), “Iskusstvo Trudiashchimsia” (1925, 1929), “Kolektyvist Ukrainy” (1931–1933), “Sovetskii Teatr” (1931–1936), “Voroshilovskii Strelok” (1937), “Sovetskii Soiuz” (1950–1956) and “Ukraina” (1960–1964).

Newspapers and magazines, which belong to periodical production, form a weighty part of the collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum.

Newspapers

In the museum’s holdings the collection of pre-revolutionary newspapers numbers 1,457 copies.

For display work, the materials contained in the newspaper “Yuzhnyi Krai” will be of enormous interest. In its 189 copies (1888–1919), particular attention is drawn to informational articles about the work in Kharkiv of the 33rd Congress of Industrialists of Southern Russia, the founding of the Russian–Italian Chamber for links between Kharkiv industrial enterprises and Italian ones, and the founding of a chamber of commerce for Kharkiv merchants and industrialists.

The newspaper honoured outstanding figures whose lives were in one way or another connected with Kharkiv: O. K. Alchevskyi, honorary member of the Council of the Congress of Mining Industrialists of Southern Russia; A. F. Koni, assistant prosecutor of the Kharkiv District Court and member of the State Council; and B. D. Hrinchenko, an outstanding Ukrainian writer and public figure.

“Yuzhnyi Krai” is of great importance as a source on the history of public education in pre-revolutionary Kharkiv. It tells of the founding in Kharkiv of the Novo-Oleksandrivka Institute (agronomy) and the Women’s Institute, and of the establishment of the prizes named after T. H. Shevchenko, M. V. Lysenko, Ye. K. Redin, O. O. Potebnia and M. S. Drynov.

Interesting material on the life of the Kharkiv community is provided by the collections of the newspapers “Kharkovskie Gubernskie Vedomosti” (1848–1911), “Mir” (November–December 1905) and “Utro” (1906–1916).

The events of the October coup of 1917 are described in detail by the organ of the regional committee of the Donets and Kryvyi Rih basins and of the Kharkiv city committee of the RSDLP(b) (“Donetskii Proletarii”) and the organ of the Kharkiv Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of the Kharkiv governorate and regional committees of the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of the Donets and Kryvyi Rih districts (“Izvestiia Yuga”).

The 1920s are represented by the Union-wide press (“Izvestiia”, “Pravda”) and the local press (“Visti”, “Kommunist”, “Krasnaia Armiia”, “Professionalnoe Dvizhenie”, “Selianyn”, “Selianyn Kharkivshchyny”, “Selianska Pravda”, “Trudovaia Armiia”). These newspapers give very important information on the state of the trade unions, the army and agriculture of Ukraine.

The 1930s are a variety of local newspapers in the museum’s collection, namely “Militsioner Prykordonnia”, “Teatr Revoliutsii”, “Teatr Russkoi Dramy”, “Tekhnika KhPZ”, “Udarnik Opery i Baleta”, “Kharkovskii Parovoznik” and “Kharkovskii Rabochii”. They give information on the further development of industry, of military affairs and of the theatrical arts.

The newspapers of the 1940s fall into three groups: pre-war (“Politviddilovets Transportu”, “Politotdelskii Gudok”, “Piatyrichka”), wartime (“Boevaia Trevoga”, “Vpered za Rodinu”, “Vpered k Pobede”, “Za Nashu Pobedu”, “Suvorovskii Natisk”) and post-war (“Molotarka”, “Teplovoznik”, “Shakhtarka”, “Yuzhnaia Magistral”); they tell of the creation and development of the transport network, of military affairs and of agriculture in the pre-war and post-war years.

Newspapers of the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s are represented in very small numbers. The most interesting for display are “Vsenarodnaia Stroika”, “Pravda Lozivshchyny”, “Chervonyi Prapor” (1952–1957), “Uchitelskaia Gazeta” (1978) and “Slobidska Ukraina” (1989), which reflect the state of construction, agriculture and teaching in the 1950s–1980s.

In the 1990s the collection of newspapers already grows in number. The museum’s collection is supplemented by such publications interesting for display as “Profspilkova Hazeta” (1990), “Prykordonni Visti” (1991), “Aktsioner” (1991, 1993), “Sloboda” (1991, 1993), “Narodne Zdorovia” (1992) and “Kharkovskie Eparkhialnye Vedomosti” (1994–1999). The subjects covered include the trade-union movement, customs and the border, joint-stock companies, the modern history of Sloboda Ukraine, health care and the modern history of the Kharkiv diocese.

For a many-sided presentation of the present day, a great variety of newspapers has been added to the museum’s collection. For example: “Silskyi Inzhener” (organ of the Kharkiv State Technical University; 2000, 2001), “Narodnaia Oppozitsiia” (publication of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2003, 2005), “Rerikhovskaia Pravda” (organ of the H. S. Skovoroda Roerich Philosophical Society, Kharkiv, 2004), “Molodyi Chas” (organ of the All-Ukrainian youth public organisation “Molodyi Rukh”, Kyiv, 2004), “Telekomunikatsii ta Svit” (organ of the Kharkiv branch of OJSC Ukrtelecom, 2004, 2005), “Kharkivskyi Universytet” (organ of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 2004, 2005), “Sladkaia Gildiia” (organ of the Biscuit-Chocolate corporation, Kharkiv, 2006) and “Molodist Farmatsii” (organ of the National University of Pharmacy, Kharkiv, 2007).

Magazines

No less interesting for exhibition work is the collection of magazine issues, which numbers almost 4,000 publications.

The pre-revolutionary period is striking in the variety of its magazine production, namely “Agronomicheskii Zhurnal” (publication of the Kharkiv Agricultural Society, 1913), “Gornozavodskoe Delo” (publication of the Council of the Congress of Mining Industrialists of Southern Russia, Kharkiv, 1914, 1915), “Vestnik Evropy: A Journal of History, Politics and Literature” (St Petersburg, the set for 1893), “Drug Iskusstva” (Kharkiv, 1913) and “Repertuar i Panteon” (a theatre magazine, St Petersburg, 1842–1847).

Somewhat apart stands a large set of the magazine “Russkii Khudozhestvennyi Listok” (St Petersburg, 1854), which covers the theme of “The Crimean War of 1853–1856” in many aspects.

A weighty part of the periodicals collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum consists of the St Petersburg humorous magazines “Budilnik” (1875, 1878, 1879, 1880), “Strekoza” (1876–1894, 1896, 1897), “Vot Tak Siurpriz” (1905), “Gribochki” (1905), “Dachnaia Zhizn” (1905), “Argus” (1906), “Bomby” (1906), “Vampir” (1906) and “Zhalo” (1907). The magazines treat in a humorous style such topical subjects of their time as “Society and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878” and “Society and the Russo-Japanese War of 1905–1907”.

Publications of the Civil War period are represented by the magazines “Voennoe Delo” (Moscow, 1918–1920), “Yuzhno-Russkii Potrebitel” (Kharkiv, 1919), “Revoliutsionnyi Front” (Kharkiv, 1920) and “Vrachebnoe Delo” (Kharkiv, 1921).

The life of the Soviet state in the post-war 1920s is described by the magazines “Vestnik Sovetskoi Yustitsii na Ukraine” (1922), “Zhizn Natsionalnostei” (1922), “Vestnik Fizicheskoi Kultury” (1923, 1924), “Komunarka Ukrainy” (1923–1929), “Vozdushnyi Flot” (1924), “Ezhenedelnik Narodnogo Komissariata Prosveshcheniia” (1924), “Znannia” (1924), “Krasnaia Osa” (1924), “U Stanka” (1924–1926), “Bezvirnyk” (1925, 1926), “Zhernov” (1925, 1926), “Iskusstvo Trudiashchimsia” (1925, 1926), “MOPR” (1925, 1926, 1928), “Drukar” (1928), “Transport Ukrainy” (1925–1929) and “Visti Tsentralnoho Komitetu KP(b)U” (1929).

The 1930s were marked by a variety of magazines: “Kolektyvist Ukrainy” (1931–1933), “Kooperatyvne Budivnytstvo” (1931), “Mashyna na Seli” (1931), “Sovetskii Teatr” (1931, 1936), “Arkhiv Radianskoi Ukrainy” (1932), “Dniprelstan” (1932), “Bolshevistskaia Pechat” (1934–1936, 1939), “V Boi za Tekhniku” (1937), “Voroshilovskii Strelok” (1937), “Kolhospnytsia Ukrainy” (1938, 1939), “Nasha Strana” (1938, 1939) and “Sovetskoe Studenchestvo” (1939).

The 1940s are represented by a very small collection: “Nasha Strana” (1940) and “Za Oboronu” (1943).

The collection of magazines becomes somewhat larger in the 1950s: “Sovetskii Soiuz” (1950–1956, 1958–1959) and “Kharkiv” (1953–1955).

The 1960s are represented by the publications “Sovetskii Soiuz” (1960–1963, 1966), “Ukraina” (1960–1964), “Voprosy Neiroftalmologii” (1961), “Sovetskoe Zdravookhranenie” (1962–1963) and “Vestnik Selskokhoziaistvennoi Nauki” (1968).

In the 1970s the collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum was supplemented by such magazines as “Sovetskii Ekran” (1971), “Voenno-istoricheskii Zhurnal” (1973), “Vidomosti Verkhovnoi Rady URSR” (1974), “Doshkilne Vykhovannia” (1977), “Atomnaia Energiia” (1978), “Visnyk Kharkivskoho Universytetu” (1978), “Vitchyzna” (1978) and “Voprosy Atomnoi Nauki i Tekhniki” (1979).

The 1980s are represented by two publications, namely “Teatralnyi Kharkiv” (1982–1988) and “Teatralno-kontsertnyi Kharkiv” (1988–1989).

In the 1990s the museum’s collection is supplemented by various magazines suitable for display: “Aktsionernoe Delo” (1991), “Pozitsiia” (1991), “Dilove Zhyttia” (1992, 1993), “Ukrainskyi Zasiv” (1993), “Dzherelo Pedahohichnoi Maisternosti” (1995), “Visnyk Natsionalnoho Banku Ukrainy” (1996) and “Visnyk Farmatsii” (1999).

The 2000s are represented by a special issue of the monthly information magazine “Kharkov. What. Where. When.” (August 2000).