Access
Use
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Alternate Forms Available
Biography Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Title: Natalie Grant Wraga papers
Date (inclusive): 1919-2004
Collection Number: 2005C55
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and Russian
Physical Description:
31 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(12.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The papers of the American Foreign Service officer and Sovietologist include writings, notes, correspondence, and printed
matter, relating to the Soviet government, foreign policy, espionage and clandestine activities, and especially the use of
disinformation as a tactic. Includes photocopies of United States Department of State dispatches relating to Soviet activities
during the 1920s and 1930s. Includes a typescript book-length-study entitled "Window on Russia." Also includes some papers
of Ryszard (Richard) Wraga, Sovietologist and husband of Natalie Wraga. Digital copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Creator:
United States. Department of State
Creator:
Wraga, Natalie Grant, 1901-2002
Creator:
Wraga Ryszard, 1902-1968
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2005.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Natalie Grant Wraga Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Alternate Forms Available
Biography Note
1901 February 24 |
Born as Natalie Konstantinovna Mark, Tallinn, Estonia |
1920s |
Fled the Soviet Union. Became a U.S. citizen when she married Malcolm Grant (divorced shortly thereafter) |
1923 |
Employed with the American Relief Administration |
1928-1939 |
Worked for the American Legation in Riga, Latvia, as a translator and analyst |
1950s |
Employed with the U.S. Department of State as a Sovietologist |
1959 May 20 |
Married Ryszard Wraga, also known as Jerzy Antoni Niezbrzycki |
Mid-1960s |
Moved to Menlo Park, California, and worked for the Hoover Institution, Stanford University |
1981-1988 |
Volunteer, League of Women Voters |
1983-1985 |
Volunteer, Project Hope |
1985 |
Volunteer, Republican Women's Club of Loudoun County, Virginia |
2002 November 12 |
Died, Lovettsville, Virginia |
Scope and Content of Collection
Natalie Grant Wraga papers include correspondence, notes, writings, and printed matter relating to the Soviet Government,
U.S. foreign policy, espionage and clandestine activities, and the use of disinformation as opposed to simple propaganda as
a tactic.
The largest series, Speeches and Writings, includes her typescript, book-length study entitled "Window on Russia." Writing
under the name Natalie Grant, she was also the author of several monographs and articles in intelligence journals. She was
an authority on "The Trust," one of the most important Soviet deception operations, in which a phony opposition group in the
1920s tricked émigrés and domestic opponents of the new Soviet regime into exposing their plans and feeding false information
to the West.
The Subject File contains material related to her own publications. This includes articles and notes about Bolsheviks, communism,
disinformation, emigration, espionage, the GPU (Glavnoe Politicheskoe Upravlenie or Main Political Administration), Russian
civil war, etc. It also includes photocopies of U.S. Department of State dispatches relating to Soviet activities during the
1920s and 1930s.
The Richard (Ryszard) Wraga File contains papers of Richard (Ryszard) Wraga, Sovietologist and husband of Natalie Wraga. The
Hoover Institution Library & Archives also holds a separate collection of his materials, the Ryszard Wraga papers. Additional
papers of Richard Wraga are available at the Józef Pilsudski Institute of America in New York City.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into 10 series: Biographical File, Richard Wraga File, Correspondence, Speeches and Writings,
Subject File, Soviet Delegations File, Writings by Others, Newspapers and Clippings, Photographs and Negatives, and Oversize
Material.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Secret service -- Soviet Union
Soviet Union -- Politics and government
Espionage, Russian
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations
Disinformation
Intelligence service -- Soviet Union