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Title: Nadia L. Shapiro papers
Date (inclusive): 1910-1984
Collection Number: 90004
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and Russian
Physical Description:
12 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize folder, 2 phonorecords
(5.1 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Papers of the Russian-American writer and journalist include writings, letters, printed matter, and photographs, relating
to the Russian Civil War in Siberia, and to Russian émigré life in China and the United States. Contains a memoir of the Russian
Civil War in the Blagoveshchensk area and of the trial of the Socialist Revolutionary A. N. Alekseevskii in Blagoveshchensk
in 1918 (with a translation by Elena Varneck). Also includes records of N. L. Shapiro's work with the Office of War Information
during World War II.
Creator:
Varneck, Elena, 1891-1976
Creator:
Shapiro, Nadia L. (Nadia Lavrova), 1897-1989
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1990
[Identification of item], Nadia L. Shapiro papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
| 1897 October 20 | Born, Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia |
| 1914 May | High school diploma, Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia |
| 1915-1916 | Elementary school teacher certificate, one-year pedagogical course in Blagoveschensk, Siberia, Russia |
| 1916-1917 | Studied at the Moscow Women's College, Russia |
| 1917-1918 | Teacher of English language, Blagoveschensk Polytechnical School, Siberia, Russia |
| 1918 | Fled with her family from the Bolsheviks to Harbin, Manchuria, China |
| 1918-1920 | Interpreter and feature writer for the newspaper Novosti zhizni, Harbin, Manchuria, China |
| 1920-1921 | Performed literary work and studied Japanese, Yokohama, Japan |
| 1921 | Foreign Editor, Zaria newspaper, Harbin, Manchuria, China |
| 1922 August | Arrived in the United States under the sponsorship of the Harbin Y.M.C.A. |
| 1923 May 29 | B.A., University of California, Berkeley (after Russian diplomas were validated) |
| 1923-1932 | Feature writer and Book and Art page editor for the San Francisco Examiner |
| 1928 February 6 | Acquired U.S. citizenship |
| 1932-1942 | Free-lanced, contributing to the Christian Science Monitor and various West Coast publications, under byline "Nadia Lavrova" |
| 1936-1937 | Play reader and research writer/editor for the Federal Theatre in San Francisco, Work Projects Administration |
| 1937-1942 | Legal research editor, Historical Records Survey of Northern California, Work Projects Administration |
| 1942-1945 | Translator and examiner, U.S. Office of Censorship |
| 1945 | Writer, U.S. Office of War Information |
| 1945 May-June | Member, Russian section, Interpreters and Translators Bureau of the International Secretariat at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco |
| 1946-1953 | Foreign broadcast monitor, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |
| 1989 | Died |
Scope and Content of Collection
The Nadia Shapiro papers consist of material related to the life and work of the Russian-American writer and journalist Nadezhda
Lazarevna Shapiro.
The collection includes correspondence, writings, pamphlets, clippings, stories, essays, sketches, other printed matter, photographs,
and other pictorial materials relating to the Russian Civil War in Siberia, and to Russian émigré life in China and the United
States. There is also material relating to her U.S. government service during World War II.
Nadia Shapiro was a freelance writer, and also worked as a staff feature writer for the
San Francisco Examiner,
San Francisco Chronicle,
Los Angeles Times (Sunday Magazine),
Christian Science Monitor, and Russian language publications in the United States. Most of her writing in English was done under the pen name of "Nadia
Lavrova" or "NL," while in Russian she signed her works as "Nadezhda Lavrova."
Nadia Shapiro devoted a major part of her spare time to literary activities without, however, submitting anything for publication,
which she justified as due to the peculiar nature of her confidential work with different federal agencies. She gathered a
great variety of notes and drafts of sketches, stories, essays, and book and chapter outlines –- all in preparation for the
later processing of some of this material into stories and books.
The collection includes a wealth of romantic short stories. A few of them were published during Shapiro's freelancing and
news writing days. Considering her Russian origin, there are also notes for an autobiographical narrative "My Old Home Town
Was Blagoveschensk," which covers the Russian Civil War and the trial of the Socialist Revolutionary A. N. Alekseevskii in
1918.
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives acquired the Nadia Shapiro papers in 1990.
The collection is organized into eight series: Biographical File, Correspondence, Writings, Subject File, Printed Matter,
Art Work, Postcards, and Photographs.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Russians -- United States
Sound recordings
Siberia (Russia) -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
Journalists
Russians -- China
World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
Blagoveshchensk (Amurskai͡a oblastʹ, Russia)
United States. Office of War Information
Partīi͡a sot͡sīalistov-revoli͡ut͡sīonerov
Alekseevskiĭ, Aleksandr Nikolaevich