History of Russia: Exhibition “Moscow of 1937-1938 through the eyes of US Ambassador’s daughter” underway in St. Petersburg

On November 17 2011 the Peter and Paul Fortress (St. Petersburg) is launching an exhibition called “Moscow of 1937-1938 through the eyes of US Ambassador’s daughter”.

The exhibition displays photographs of Moscow as it was in 1937-1938, which were taken by the American Emlen Knight Davies. 

Emlen Knight Davies – daughter of Joseph Davies, US Ambassador to the USSR in 1937-1938. In January 1937 Emlen Knight Davies together with her father arrived in Moscow. Two years did the ambassador’s family spend in Moscow mansion - Spaso House, which since 1933 had served as an official residence of US Ambassadors.

Emlen, aged 20, kept a diary where she described the events which happened while she stayed in the Soviet capital city and personal impressions left by Moscow and Muscovites, collected press clippings and made photographs. All these priceless evidences of the past have been preserved by the Davies family.

Small-sized photos, which show Moscow of the end of the 1930s, were kept in photo albums. Daughter of Emlen Knight Davies – Mia Grosjean, turned to modern digital printing technologies to enlarge these photographs. Some of them – over 40 works – are going on display at the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Photographs, made by Emlen Knight Davies in Moscow between 1937 and 1938, share the atmosphere of the city’s streets and depict everyday life of ordinary citizens.

The exhibition also showcases photographs taken by Emlen Knight Davies in the US Ambassador’s Moscow residence in Spaso House.