WAUSlavicDepartmentPHColl470.xml Preliminary Guide to the George H. Hazzard Russian Railway Service Corps Photograph Albums 1917-1920 Hazzard (George H.) Russian Railway Service Corps Photograph Albums Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries ©2009 (Last modified: 4/19/2018)
Seattle, WA 98195
Finding aid written inEnglish. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard). University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections PH0470 George H. Hazzard Russian Railway Service Corps photograph albums 1917-1920 .42 cubic feet (2 boxes) 1082 photographs in 4 albums Collection materials are inEnglish. Photographs of Russian Railway Service Corps work in Manchuria, Siberia, and the Russian Far East captured by a worker for the Northern Pacific Railroad in Washington State

George H. Hazzard, born in 1874, worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad in Washington State, mostly in Walla Walla and Pasco, beginning in 1907. From 1917 to around 1920, Hazzard served in the Russian Railway Service Corps Eighth Division as a mechanical inspector.

The Russian Railway Service Corps, comprised of American railroad experts, was created in the aftermath of the overthrown of the tsarist government in Russia to oversee the reorganization of the operation of the Trans-Siberian railroad. Headed by John F. Stevens, the corps left San Francisco for Vladivostock in November 1917. The political chaos in Vladivostock resulted in the decision to send the corps to Japan until the conditions in Siberia stabilized. In March 1918, with some men remaining in Manchuria to work on the Chinese Eastern Railway, the corps headed to Vladivostock, but were delayed by fighting between local governments and anti-Bolshevik groups. The Russian Railway Service Corps finally arrived in Siberia in August 1918 and began work, overseeing railroad operations in areas not under Bolshevik control. Except for a small group who remained behind to continue the rehabilitation of the railroads, the RRSC returned to the United States in June 1920.

4 albums of 1082 original prints and photographic postcards. These images depict the Russian Railway Service Corps in the Russian Far East, Siberia and Manchuria, 1917-1920. Collection also includes a typescript notebook (in Box 1) written by George H. Hazzard, with historical background, information on events during that time, and conditions in Siberia and along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The photographs are by an amateur photographer and are particularly strong in documenting railway operations, social events, and cultural artifacts, as well as military scenes.

The collection is open to the public.

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Source: George Klim; received in 1994.

The collection was probably transferred from the University of Washington Slavic Languages and Literature Department via George Klim in 1994.

The collection title was changed from "Slavic Department Collection."

 Photographs Photograph albums Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington) Railroads Photographs Military