We are reaching out to individuals whose relatives arrived in San Francisco from the Philippines on July l, 1923 on board the USAT Merritt as part of a group of over 500 refugees who fled Russia in the fall of 1922.
We are in need of materials for the USAT Merritt collection at the Museum of Russian Culture - such as photos, personal stories and papers, etc. - to preserve this vital part of Russian history and to commemorate this historical event.
Contact Eugenia Bailey at ... eugeniabailey@att.net ... or
Contact Margarita Meniailenko at the Museum of Russian Culture ...
415-921-4082 Wed & Sat 10:30 am to 2:30 pm ... contact@mrcsf.org
USAT MERRITT 1923 ... On July 1, 1923, the army transport ship USAT Merritt out of Manila, Philippines, docked at Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. It carried five hundred and twenty-six Russia "boat people" survivors of some seven thousand who had fled Vladivostok eight months previously as victorious Communist forces advanced on the last out post of resistance to the Bolshevik revolution.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
July 1, 1923
On July 1, 1923, a special group of refugees on the American transport U.S.A.T. Merritt arrived at San Francisco. These 526 Russian men, women, and children had been part of a flotilla of some twenty Russian vessels, under the command of Rear Admiral Yuri Stark, which left Vladivostok in October 1922 when the city fell to the Bolsheviks. After a harrowing journey plagued by inhospitable governments, poor shipboard conditions, and typhoons which sank two of the not-very-seaworthy vessels and their passengers; a remnant of the original 7,000 refugees managed to make it to Manila in the Philippine Islands, where the American government had guaranteed asylum. Consultation by Governor General Leonard Wood with President Harding and the Secretaries of War and Labor enabled the homeless and stateless Russians to come to the United States under the terms of the recently enacted quota law. The American Red Cross helped to finance the trip.
Photo courtesy of Nicholas Daniloff.
Photo courtesy of Nicholas Daniloff.
Paul V. Nikonenko
Angel Island immigration officials held and processed the refugees at Fort McDowell, an army installation on the west side of the island. Although great care had been taken to make sure that all were eligible to enter the country under the immigration laws, nineteen were excluded. Those who appealed the order had to wait at the immigration station until final decisions were made in Washington, D.C. Ultimately four were deported back to the Philippines. Among the passengers were fifty families, naval and army officers, engineers, two doctors, and a chaplain. The parents of the creator of this blog, Paul V. (pictured here) and Maria V. Nikonenko, were among the refugees. Most, however, were young men, sailors and farmers. After the dangers and uncertainties of the preceding months, the emigrants had found safety on Angel island. Some of them were to become movers and shakers within the newly emerging Russian community in San Francisco.
Some members of the crew shown on the Gun Boat Farvator one of the many participating ships in Admiral Stark's Siberian flotilla.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Refugees Disembarking
Refugees disembarking from the USAT Merritt at Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, July 1923.
Photos courtesy of Nicholas Daniloff.
Photos courtesy of Nicholas Daniloff.
Days Gone By
Days Gone By: In 1923, 526 Russian refugees arrive in San Francisco
By Nilda Rego
Contra Costa Times
Jun 30, 2013
It was 90 years ago that a group of very tired Russian refugees landed at Angel Island after a nine-month journey that started in Vladivostok.
"Buffeted about by storms at sea, driven from port to port, threatened by plague and starvation, 526 Russian refugees are in San Francisco harbor on board the transport Merritt today hoping that they will be allowed to land in America," Oakland Tribune reported July 2, 1923.
Admiral Yuri Karlovich Stark of the Imperial Russian navy had taken command of the Siberian flotilla based in Vladivostok, which was still in the hands of the White Russians. However, the Red Army was closing in on the city.
By October 1922, it was clear the city would fall. Twenty-three ships set sail with 7,000 to 8,000 refugees. Some of the vessels headed for Manchuria; the rest went to Japanese-ruled Korea. The Japanese already had realized that imperial Russia was gone and denied asylum to the refugees at the Korean port of Wonsan. The Russians stayed on board as supplies dwindled.
Finally, the Japanese allowed the sick to come ashore to a makeshift hospital, but supplies had to be bought with cash. The only ports open to the refugees were Shanghai, China, and Manila, Philippines.
It was now December. Stark headed for Shanghai, but his fleet was hit by a typhoon. One ship sank with its passengers and crew. Other ships were blown off course, and at the Japanese port of Nagasaki they got enough coal to get to Shanghai.
At Shanghai, word came that the refugees would be welcomed in Manila. However, most of the 8,000 who had started the trip did not want to return to Stark's battered fleet and remained in Shanghai, making plans to find a new place to live.
Stark sold some of his fleet and used the money to buy supplies. In February, 12 ships with 1,000 refugees headed for Manila, and again the fleet was hit by a typhoon. One ship, the Ajax, sank with all of its passengers and crew except for 10 people. Only 11 ships reached Manila.
The American naval base near Manila gave the refugees asylum. Gen. Leonard Wood, the U.S. governor-general of the Philippines, persuaded the U.S. government to provide passage to San Francisco on the Merritt, an American Army transport vessel. On May 26, 526 refugees left Manila for the United States. Some of the others went to Australia, while many stayed in Manila and got jobs. The American Red Cross helped finance the trip and assisted the refugees to San Francisco in finding jobs and homes.
Eugenia Bailey sent information about these sturdy and courageous souls who undertook this difficult voyage to get to the United States. Her parents, Paul and Mary Nikonenko, were among the 526 passengers on the Merritt.
Used with permission.
By Nilda Rego
Contra Costa Times
Jun 30, 2013
It was 90 years ago that a group of very tired Russian refugees landed at Angel Island after a nine-month journey that started in Vladivostok.
"Buffeted about by storms at sea, driven from port to port, threatened by plague and starvation, 526 Russian refugees are in San Francisco harbor on board the transport Merritt today hoping that they will be allowed to land in America," Oakland Tribune reported July 2, 1923.
Admiral Yuri Karlovich Stark of the Imperial Russian navy had taken command of the Siberian flotilla based in Vladivostok, which was still in the hands of the White Russians. However, the Red Army was closing in on the city.
By October 1922, it was clear the city would fall. Twenty-three ships set sail with 7,000 to 8,000 refugees. Some of the vessels headed for Manchuria; the rest went to Japanese-ruled Korea. The Japanese already had realized that imperial Russia was gone and denied asylum to the refugees at the Korean port of Wonsan. The Russians stayed on board as supplies dwindled.
Finally, the Japanese allowed the sick to come ashore to a makeshift hospital, but supplies had to be bought with cash. The only ports open to the refugees were Shanghai, China, and Manila, Philippines.
It was now December. Stark headed for Shanghai, but his fleet was hit by a typhoon. One ship sank with its passengers and crew. Other ships were blown off course, and at the Japanese port of Nagasaki they got enough coal to get to Shanghai.
At Shanghai, word came that the refugees would be welcomed in Manila. However, most of the 8,000 who had started the trip did not want to return to Stark's battered fleet and remained in Shanghai, making plans to find a new place to live.
Stark sold some of his fleet and used the money to buy supplies. In February, 12 ships with 1,000 refugees headed for Manila, and again the fleet was hit by a typhoon. One ship, the Ajax, sank with all of its passengers and crew except for 10 people. Only 11 ships reached Manila.
The American naval base near Manila gave the refugees asylum. Gen. Leonard Wood, the U.S. governor-general of the Philippines, persuaded the U.S. government to provide passage to San Francisco on the Merritt, an American Army transport vessel. On May 26, 526 refugees left Manila for the United States. Some of the others went to Australia, while many stayed in Manila and got jobs. The American Red Cross helped finance the trip and assisted the refugees to San Francisco in finding jobs and homes.
Eugenia Bailey sent information about these sturdy and courageous souls who undertook this difficult voyage to get to the United States. Her parents, Paul and Mary Nikonenko, were among the 526 passengers on the Merritt.
Used with permission.
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