Place: Oseredok (Website)
Address: 184 Alexander Avenue E (Map)
Opened: 1913 (official opening April 1915)
Architect: Bruce William
Background
Oseredok, the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, was originally built for the British and Foreign Bible Society and commonly called The Bible House. It served as the prairie headquarters of 586 Society divisions across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The Bible Society's role was to get the book into as many hands as possible by providing them to the poor, translating into the languages of newcomers and distributing them to troops in wartime. In 1943, for instance, 21,000 bibles were distributed in 29 languages throughout Manitoba.
In 1949 the Society moved to smaller premises and the building for a while housed Children's Aid and a number of private companies.
In 1957 it became the headquarters for the Winnipeg-based Ukrainian National Publishing Company that published educational material and newspapers such as the Ukrainian Voice. In 1972 an art gallery on the fifth floor named Oseredok.
In 1974 it was bought by the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, an institution in the city since 1944, and the building itself became known as Oseredok.
The centre houses a 40,000 volume library, an art gallery, museum and classroom space for Ukrainian language instruction. Guided tours are offered.
Related
184 Alexander U of M Winnipeg Building Index
184 Alexander Historic Buildings Committee Report (pdf)
British and Foreign Bible Society's Library Cambridge University
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