John E. Wilson's "North Russia Pictures" contains about 370 images of the work of the North Russia Transportation Corps. Each photo is numbered on the verso, with the numbers corresponding to Wilson's sales list. This list of photos is copied from Wilson's original sales list. All misspellings are Wilson's. A few numbers are omitted or used more than once. For each picture there is an indication of which collection or collections include the photo. A few of Wilson's pictures are not included in any of the three collections.
The photos document the entire history of the Transportation Corps, from their organization in France, to travel through England and by sea to Russia, service in Russia, and then travel by sea back to France and back to the United States. The last pictures are of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France.
The work of the Transportation Corps in Russia is presented in detail, with pictures of patrols, the aftermath of battles, railroad construction and maintenance, camps, and recreational activities. There are many pictures of soldiers, some identified but many unidentified by name. Also pictures of Russian scenery and people.
In the McGrath collection the photos are pasted into an album, so the numbers cannot be seen. The photos are presented in the album in numerical order, with the captions copied from Wilson's sales list. The Grier and Minard collections consist of loose photos, arranged in numerical order.
John E. Wilson, of Russell, Kansas, was chaplain of the North Russia Transportation Corps, a unit of the U.S. Army that served in the Murmansk region of Russia from April to July, 1919, during the Allied intervention against the Communist revolutionary government in Russia. The Transportation Corps, made up of the 167th and 168th Companies, was charged with maintaining the railroad connection between Murmansk and Soroka, Russia, in support of the Allied force in the Archangel region.
While he was in Russia, Wilson took hundreds of photographs, and on his return to the United States put together a collection of "North Russia Pictures" that he sold to his fellow soldiers as well as to news services. A number of the photos were also reproduced in Wilson's book, Arctic Antics of the North Russia Transportation Corps Expedition of the U.S. Army.
Three collections of Wilson's photos have come to the Bentley Historical Library, none of them containing the entire set of photos. This finding aid describes Wilson's photos and notes which BHL collection includes each of Wilson's items.
Bentley Historical Library collections:
John William Grier photograph collection, 1918-1919. Grier lived in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and served as Master Engineer, Senior Grade, in the 167th Company. This collection was donated to the Bentley Library in 2009 by his son, William Casey Grier (donor 10147). This collection contains a number of photos by other photographers in addition to the Wilson photos.
Frank J. McGrath photograph album, 1918-1919. McGrath served as a private in the 167th Company, and was a resident of Douglas, Arizona. This collection was donated to the Bentley Library in 1982 by McGrath's nephew, James W. Daily (donor 6800). This collection has been scanned and is available online as part of the Bentley Library's Polar Bear digital collections.
Fred E. Minard photograph collection, 1918-1919. Minard was a resident of New Castle, Wyoming, and served as a corporal in the 168th Company. This collection was donated to the Bentley Library in 2009 by his granddaughter, Rea Ann Trotter (donor 10169). In addition to Wilson's photos, the collection includes many photos taken by other photographers
