This index to the Despatches from U.S. Consuls in St. Petersburg, Russia, 1803-1906, collection provides the dates each reel covers. Government Information MAY NOT hold all of these reels. The record in the library catalog describes the extent of our holdings. For help, or to make an appointment to view a reel, email rad@colorado.edu
On the 18 rolls of this microcopy are reproduced 24 volumes that are, for the most part, despatches addressed to the Department of State by U.S. consular officials at St. Petersburg between April 17, 1803, and July 27, 1906.
The despatches reproduced in this microcopy, with few exceptions, are arranged in chronological order. At the beginning of Roll 1 are reproduced selected pages from 18 State Department registers of correspondence which, taken as a unit, comprise a register of dispatches from St. Petersburg between May 25, 1830, and July 27, 1906. The despatches dated before May 25, 1830, were not registered.
Interspersed throughout the series are some other materials, such as occasional memoranda prepared by other State Department officials, letters from the Treasury Department, and communications from private citizens of the United States.
John Miller Russell was appointed the first U.S. consul at St. Petersburg on November 24, 1794, but he did not go to the post. Levett Harris, appointed consul on April 4, 1803, arrived at the post on October 19, 1803. On July 1, 1874, the post became a consulate general with George Pomutz as the first consul general. In 1908 the status of the post reverted to that of consulate and on March 31, 1918, the post was closed.
Some of the subjects to which the despatches relate are the soliciting of aid for a U. S. ship that fell prey to the pirates of Tripoli; the stopping of a Russian ship by the U. S. Squadron in the Mediterranean; war between Russia and France; the Treaty of Tilsit; the Russian-American Company; and the recognition of Harris as consul. For the period 1803-9, there are copies of communications between Harris and Russian officials and between Harris and the Commander of the U.S. Squadron in the Mediterranean.
Many despatches are reports on commerce, production, and technology in the fields of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, petroleum engineering, sealing, and shipping.
Other subjects to which the despatches relate are tariffs, taxes, and financial conditions in Russia; famine and disease; the treatment of Jews; the treaty between Russia and Korea, August 8, 1888; Russian activity in Manchuria; expositions and exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Russian participation in expositions and exhibitions in the United States; the Great Siberian Railway; the Manchurian Railway; the nihilist movement; immigration; censorship; and industrial and political disturbances. Beginning in 1874, the despatches include reports on other consulates and consular districts under the jurisdiction of the St. Petersburg consulate general.
Some of the despatches are covering letters for enclosures of a routine nature forwarded by consular officials to the Department of State, such as reports on consular fees received and trade. In accordance with departmental policy adopted in 1870, however, most statistical enclosures were removed from their covering letters and distributed among other records of the Department of State or sent to other departments of the Government.
The records reproduced in this microcopy are a part of the records in the National Archives designated as Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State.
The spreadsheet attached below contains a reel-by-reel description of the complete collection.