Dr. Stepan Ripets’kyi was a lawyer, political activist, and journalist born in Sambir, the son of Fr. Teodor Ripets’kyi. He was part of the leadership of the Sich Riflemen Society in Sambir from 1913 to 1914, a “chotar” (platoon leader) in the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, chair of the Ukrains’ka Akademichna Hromada in Prague from 1921 to 1922, a member of the Foreign Committee of the Ukrainian Socialist Radical Party from 1921 to 1926, and a lecturer in sociology at the Higher Pedagogical Institute in Prague from 1923 to 1926. He was also a member of the Main Administration of the Ukrainian Socialist Radical Party in Lviv from 1926 to 1939. After emigrating to Germany, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Socialist Party and the Ukrainian National Rada), and after coming to the United States in 1949 he (co-)edited the journal "Free Ukraine" from 1960 to 1969. He was a full member of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences (UVAN), and the author of works such as "Ukrains’ke Sichove Striletstvo” (1956), "Lystopad 1918 r." (1961), and "Bibliohrafiia dzherel do istorii USS" (1965), was editor of the collection "Za voliu Ukrainy" (1967), and many articles, particularly on the era of the struggles for Ukrainian independence.

As to the organizational histories documented in this collection, the Sich Movement began in 1900 with the founding of the sport and physical culture society "Sich" in the village of Zavali near Sniatyn. The founding and development of the Sich organization was in large measure the result of the work of Kyrylo Trylovs’kyi, who in 1913 created the Rifle section under the Ukrainian Sich Union, and with the outbreak of war, served as the head of its “Boiova Uprava” (“Combat Administration”). Thousands of Sich organizations appeared under the leadership of Olena Stepanivna and Kostiantyna Malyts’ka, who later initiated the creation of the Fund for Aid to Ukraine (“Fond dopomohy Ukraini”). The growth of the Riflemen movement was influenced by Polish Riflemen societies, which were ideologically oriented towards fighting against the Russian tsarist regime and aimed to gain independence for Poland. Based on the Sich and Sokil movements, the Ukrainian Sich Rifleman military formation was created and entered military action on the side of Austria in mid-1914.