CONFRONTING THE COLD WAR LEGACY: THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN COLONY IN ST PETERSBURG A CASE STUDY OF RECONCILIATION BY C2010 Lyubov Ginzburg Submitted to the graduate degree program in American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ___________________________________ Professor David Katzman (Chairperson) Committee members* _____________________________ Professor Norman Saul* _______________________ ______ Professor William Tuttle* _____________________________ Professor Mohamed El-Hodiri* _____________________________ Professor Timothy Miller* Date defended: ____________________________ 14 December 2009 1 The Dissertation Committee for Lyubov A. Ginzburg certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: CONFRONTING THE COLD WAR LEGACY: THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN COLONY IN ST. PETERSBURG A CASE STUDY OF RECONCILIATION Committee: _________________________________ Professor David Katzman (Chairperson) ________________________________ Professor Norman Saul _________________________________ Professor William Tuttle ______________________________ ___ Professor Mohamed El-Hodiri __________________________________ Professor Timothy Miller Date approved: _____________________ 20 April 2010 2 Abstract This dissertation surveys three decades of the history and dynamics of Russian–American relations, demonstrating that their conduct has never been exclusively confined to governmental operatives and foreign policymakers. The focus of the research is a diverse group of American nationals residing in St. Petersburg-Petrograd, Russia, between 1890 and 1920. Tracing networks of connections which led Americans to Russia, it stresses the importance of successfully established American businesses in a pro-Western St. Petersburg, pays tribute to American journalists and social reformers, and features socialist-leaning intellectuals who traveled to Russia during times of revolutionary upheavals, becoming chroniclers, witnesses, and, in some instances, participants in events that challenged the course of world history. It also examines American religious missions to Russia and ardent sympathizers, who managed much-appreciated relief activities there. Emphasizing the significance of cultural influences and interdependencies, the research introduces those American nationals who found in the former Russian capital a unique opportunity to express themselves artistically through American cultural idioms, or enhance their knowledge of the Russian language, literature, and history. The study examines the extensive archival materials which reveal broad venues of public diplomacy, as well as economic and cultural interaction, reconstructing a collective narrative of the American colony in the city. It also introduces an array of Russian-language sources little-known to Western readers and scholars, and surveys publications brought to the attention of English-speaking historians, yet left untranslated. Primary sources from both countries, some examined for the first time, and the observations of a host of scholars who have preceded me, are central to the project. Although the history of Russian-American relations has been a well-explored topic, a comprehensive analysis of the contributions of the American colony to the social, economic, and cultural development of the second principal city of Russia is long overdue. 3 Acknowledgments I would like to sincerely thank everyone who expressed interest in my research and offered much-needed guidance and assistance in the course of a challenging journey through graduate school to my doctoral degree. I deeply appreciate the profound contribution made on my behalf by the members of my committee, including Professor Norman Saul, Professor David Katzman, Professor William Tuttle, Professor Timothy Miller, and Professor Mohamed El-Hodiri. I would especially like to thank my committee for sharing the knowledge and wisdom of dedicated scholars and providing ongoing encouragement, and direction throughout the past seven plus years. In particular, Professor Saul navigated me through the historiography of the era, and Professor Katzman made an enormous contribution to the organization, tenor, and flow of the final document, with his scrupulous editing. Professor Tuttle made certain that I would have all my ‘ducks’ aligned, in order to graduate. I would also like to acknowledge those who welcomed me at the University of Kansas, and enhanced my ambition to serve as a mediator between cultures and countries while completing my studies. I thank Hodgie Bricke, Assistant Vice Provost, International Programs, who welcomed me to the Midwest, upon my first trip to KU and has remained a friend and associate ever since. I thank the entire faculty and staff of the American Studies Program, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Centre for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the Humanities and Western Civilization Program, and Communication Studies. I also thank Diana Carlin, of the Communication Studies Department, formerly Dean of the Graduate School and International Programs of the University of Kansas, whose efforts on my behalf, in concert with U.S. Senator from Kansas Sam Brownback, allowed me entry to the United States in August, 2002, making possible everything thereafter. 4 I would like to express my appreciation to the Graduate School for their support with a Graduate Summer Research Fellowship. A research grant from the Summer Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois was also indispensable. I was privileged to do my research in some of the most notable depositories in the United States, including the Library of Congress, and would like to acknowledge their curators and staff librarians for being responsive to all my difficult questions and meeting my most challenging needs. I would like to especially thank Edward Kasinec, a former chief of the Slavic and Baltic Division of the New York Public Library, and Tanya Chebotarev, curator of the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture at Columbia University in New York. I must thank my daughter Alexandra and husband Mark, for their patience and fortitude as they have stood alongside me through these years of academic work. I would like to express sincere thanks to my good friends and colleagues, including Lawrence, Kansas residents Patricia and Bob Marvin, Robert John Myers and Nicole Proudfoot, Richard Kershenbaum, David Ohle, and Kevin Whitehead. Finally, I thank my parents, Alexander Ginzburg and Nadezhda Kulikova. They sparked my curiosity in the world beyond my ‘habitat,’ even when the inquiry could be pursued only in an imagination fostered by fictionalized sketches, scholarly discourses, and Soviet caricatures, accompanied by the sounds of estranged music from overseas, smuggled into our lives from the cultural black market. They also passed along their love for the mystery of the mirage city, the ‘dot on the map,’ that I proclaimed as the principal milieu of my narrative for this dissertation. 5 A Note on Transliteration In general, the Library of Congress transliteration system from the Cyrilic alphabet to the Latin English has been followed. However, for such well-known names as Kerensky or Gorky more commonly used endings “- ky” instead of the “- kii”are preferred. In many instances the deviation from transliteration rules is dictated by the necessity to preserve the spelling in primary sources. For example, the names of Charles Crane’s Russian acquaintances Iakov Ivanovich Rostovtsoff or Peter Siemonoff appear exactly as they are written in his letters instead of Library of Congress Rostovtsev and Semenov. The relevant explanation has been provided in such cases. Such words as tsar/czar appear in their both versions, as they are used interchangeably in book and article titles and quotes. 6 I dedicate my research to a growing comity and trust between these two great nations, which have within their collective power the opportunity to lead the way to a more peaceful and prosperous world. 7 Table of Contents Preface …………………………………………………………..…………………………..….........…..8 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................…....21 Introduction Russia: an American Problem or an American Venue ………………………….……………….………31 Chapter I / East Meets West The City of Clerks and Foreigners: Foreign Communities in Multinational St. Petersburg ………………………………………………………………………………..………..….…36 Chapter II / Innocents Abroad Part 1 A Brief History of American Expatriates and the American Diaspora in Europe ………………………………………………...………..……...62 Part 2 Discovering Russia Americans in St. Petersburg Chronicles of the American Presence in the Northern Capital: Cultural and Social Qualities of the American Colony in St. Petersburg……………………………………………………….………….…….. 74 Chapter III / American Business Interests in Investments in Russia (1890s- 1920s) American Capital in Russian Capital: American Banks, Insurance Companies, and enterprise in St. Petersburg……………………………………….…………… 134 Chapter IV / Ardent Sympathizers (1890-1930) Part 1 American Missionaries and Confessors, Religious Societies, Relief Organizations and Philanthropists in Their Survey of “the Most Dramatic” Russian City………………………….……………………………………….….…….. 199 Part 2 American Liberals and the Russian Revolutions…………………………………………………….….….... 285 Chapter