Inventory of the George Herbert Ryden papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2010, 2014
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: George Herbert Ryden papers
Date (inclusive): 1915-1941
Collection Number: 2010C51
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes
(0.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, personal documents, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to relief activities in the Crimea during
the Russian Civil War. Includes correspondence with Grand Duchess Ol'ga Aleksandrovna.
Creator:
Olʹga Aleksandrovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, 1882-1960
Creator:
Ryden, George Herbert, 1884-1941
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
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2010.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], George Herbert Ryden papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
George H. Ryden (1884-1941) was an American National Red Cross worker in Russia from 1918 to 1920. A native of Kansas City,
he interrupted his academic career to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces in Italy during World War I, was with the
Red Cross in the southern Russian city of Novorossiisk in 1920, seeking to aid refugees during the civil war that followed
the Russian Revolution. While there, he played a key role in helping the family of Grand Duchess Ol'ga Aleksandrovna, the
sister of the recently murdered Czar Nicholas II, escape to Turkey and subsequently to Europe. Ryden, a historian, later became
the state archivist of Delaware.
Scope and Content of Collection
Correspondence, reports, personal documents, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to Red Cross relief activities in the
Crimea during the Russian Civil War. Includes correspondence with Grand Duchess Ol'ga Aleksandrovna.
The twenty-three letters and postcards from the Grand Duchess were written from Denmark between 1923 and 1929. Several of
these postcards contain reproductions of her paintings, which Ryden helped sell in the United States during the 1920s and
1930s.
In addition to the correspondence with Ol'ga Aleksandrovna, Ryden's papers contain a variety of documents pertaining to Red
Cross operations in the Crimea and southern Russia, including correspondence, reports of visits to orphanages and hospitals,
and financial records. Ryden and his colleagues received a number of honors from White Russian Army commanders, and his papers
contain documents concerning honors and medals that he and his colleagues were awarded, including Ryden's honorary membership
in the Kuban Cossacks, and medals that were bestowed on him by Generals Denikin and Wrangel. Following his service with the
Red Cross, Ryden visited Denmark in 1921 to meet once again with Ol'ga Aleksandrovna, as well as with her mother, the empress
dowager Mariia Feodorovna, who expressed her gratitude to Ryden with an inscribed photograph that read "In gratitude for what
you did for my daughter," and signed simply "Marie."
Ryden's academic career and interest in history are also represented in correspondence with the academic institutions that
he attended, student transcripts, and certificates of membership from various state historical societies.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921 -- Civilian relief
International relief
American National Red Cross
Academic Career File
1915-1924
Biographical File
1918-1957, undated
box 1, folder 3
American Expeditionary Forces identification card
1919
box 1, folder 4
Delaware Historical Markers Commission membership certificate
1923, 1931
box 1, folder 5
Pennsylvania Historical Society membership certificate
1924
box 1, folder 8
Newspaper clippings
1938-1957
box 1, folder 46
Kansas City Southern Railway Co. letter of recommendation
1918
box 2, folder 5
"Honorary Cossack," certification
1920
box 1, folder 6
Letters of introduction
1918
Ol'ga Alexandrovna Materials
1923-2008
box 1, folder 10
Correspondence
1923-1941, 1960
box 1, folder 11
Postcards with artwork
1929-1932
box 1, folder 12
Newspaper clippings
1957-2008
box 1, folder 13
Receipts for sale of paintings
1925-1930
Ryden Correspondence
1919-1941
box 1, folder 16
General Boris Shoulgin
1920
box 1, folder 15
Baroness Olga Wrangel
1920, 1924
box 1, folder 14
Russian Embassy in Paris
1919
box 1, folder 19
Russian Plenipotentiary, Constantinople
1920
American Red Cross File
1919-1921, undated
box 1, folder 22
Leonid Lenko-Popovsky
1920
box 1, folder 28
Rockefeller Foundation
1920
box 1, folder 30
Regarding insurance policies
1920
box 1, folder 31
Regarding personal finances
1920
box 1, folder 32
Regarding social initiatives
1920
box 1, folder 20
Decorations Awarded to Staff by Russian Military
1920
box 1, folder 23
"An Account of the Evacuation of Crimea," Leon K. Wiese
1920
box 1, folder 42
"An Account of the Evacuation of Crimea," G. H. Ryden
1921
box 1, folder 34
Letters of Introduction
undated
box 1, folder 38
"An Account of General Denikine's Speech at Ekaterinodar"
1920
box 1, folder 39
"General Holman's Proclamation to all the Athamen of Territories, Districts, and Villages and to all Cossacks of the Kuban
and Don"
1920
box 1, folder 40
Reports on meetings with Russian officials
1920
box 1, folder 41
Reports on visits to hospitals and orphanages
1920
Russian Red Cross Letters
1920
box 1, folder 21
Letters of introduction
1920
box 1, folder 35
Letter in recognition of Ryden's service
1920
box 1, folder 45
Swedish history materials
1938, 1941
Russian Army Letters
1919
box 1, folder 47
Letter of introduction
1919
box 2, folder 3
Portraits of Ryden
undated
box 2, folder 10
Portraits of General Baron Wrangel and Maria Feodorovna
undated
Speeches and Other Materials
1920-1921, and undated
box 2, folder 1
Appointments Committee for Russian Scientific and Literary Men report
1921
box 2, folder 2
"Significance of Crimea," speech notes
1921
box 2, folder 4
"Panorama of Sebastopol," report
1920
box 2, folder 8
Business cards, ephemera
undated