Letters from Vladivostock, 1894-1930

In 1894, Eleanor L. Pray left her New England home to move with her merchant husband to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. Over the next thirty-six years — from the time of Tsar Alexander III to the early years of Stalin’s rule — she wrote more than 2,000 letters chronicling her family life and the tumultuous social and political events she witnessed. Vladivostok, 5,600 miles east of Moscow, was shaped by a rich intersection of Asian cultures, and Pray’s witty and observant writing paints a vivid picture of the city and its denizens during a period of momentous social change. The book offers highlights from Pray’s letters along with illuminating historical and biographical information.

Birgitta Ingemanson is professor of foreign languages and cultures at Washington State University. Patricia D. Silver, Pray's granddaughter, preserved and organized the letters.

List of Place Names

Maps

Introduction: Between the Two Bays: Eleanor Pray’s Vladivostok, 1894–1930, by Birgitta Ingemanson

Biographical Sketch: The Smiths and the Prays, by Patricia D. Silver

PART I. THE PEOPLE

1. A Victorian Home in Siberia

Eleanor Pray’s New Life

Rituals and Celebrations

2. Women’s Work and Leisure

Clothes and Home Designs

Charity Bazaars

Sports

PART II. THE CITY

3. Vladivostok Scenes

Natural Beauty, Picnics, and Excursions

City Landmarks and Man-Made Attractions

Street Vignettes, Human Interaction

4. Historic Names

Magnificent Ships

Nikolai and Alexandra

Lindholm Connections

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich

Prince Heinrich of Prussia

Isabella Bird Bishop

Richard Theodore Greener

5. Life at the Dacha

Early Visits, 1900–1907

The Novogeorgievsk Estate

The House and Garden

Dacha Entertainments

Philosophical Musings

War

PART III. THE HISTORY

6. The Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905

Waiting for War

The Attack on Port Arthur, the Petropavlovsk

The Bombardment of Vladivostok

Summer and Fall 1904

Mukden

The Baltic Fleet and the Battle of Tsushima

Peace

7. The Riots of 1905–1906

The November Days 1905

Vladivostok’s Bloody Sunday

8. Wars, Revolutions, and Foreign Intervention

The War Afar, 1914–1916

The Year of Two Revolutions, 1917

Allied Intervention, January 1918–April 1920

Japanese Occupation, 4–5 April 1920 to 25 October 1922

A Red Cross Sampler

9. A Window Flung Open: New Beginnings

The Soviet Victory

Kunst and Albers to the Rescue

Same Home, Different Times

Acknowledgments

Glossary of Uncommon Terms Frequently Used by Eleanor Pray

Appendix: Biographical Notes on Persons Frequently

Mentioned in the Letters

Notes

Bibliography

Index