Wraga (Natalie Grant) papers, 1919-2004

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Summary

Title:
Natalie Grant Wraga papers
Dates:
1919-2004
Creators:
United States. Department of State, Wraga, Natalie Grant, 1901-2002, and Wraga Ryszard, 1902-1968
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.
Extent:
32 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (13 Linear Feet)
Language:
In English and Russian
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Natalie Grant Wraga Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
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
Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2005.
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.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Natasha Porfirenko, Lyalya Kharitonova
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-03-31 15:19:19.313130

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Natalie Grant Wraga Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website