This index to the Records of the Department of State Relating to U.S. Claims Against Russia, 1910-1929, collection provides the description of what 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
After the Bolsheviks took power in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Revolutionary Government quickly took steps to seize large amounts of land and property in the name of the state. As a result, irate U.S. citizens who were property holders in Russia began writing letters to the U.S. embassy there (as well as the State Department), hoping to safeguard their investments by having the U.S. government put pressure on the Soviet revolutionaries to stop the seizures and return the property. This microfilm publication contains most of these letters, as well as responses and memorandums from the State Department relating to the claims.
The claims, some of which precede the Russian Revolution, were filed under the decimal file heading “461.11,” Claims Against Russia made by the United States. The documents in this microfilm publication are grouped into cases and arranged alphabetically ; within each case file the arrangement is roughly chronological.
The spreadsheet attached below contains a reel-by-reel description of the complete collection.