Exactly 65 years ago, on 17 July 1959, at the height of the Cold War, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) signed a presidential proclamation and a joint resolution of the US Senate and House of Representatives commemorating the Captive Nations Week.
The commemoration of Enslaved Peoples Week was made possible by the prominent American politician and diplomat of Ukrainian descent, Lev Dobriansky. He was a long-time president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) in 1949-1954 and 1962-1983. Lev Dobriansky was the author of the text of the Congressional Resolution.
Enslaved People's Week is celebrated annually in the United States in the third week of July. It is a series of mass events designed to draw public attention to the problems of peoples and countries enslaved by dictatorial regimes.