Russians Are Part of America’s Melting Pot

The Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church of 1894, one of the oldest Russian Orthodox churches in Alaska is a National Historic Landmark | Photo by Jet Lowe via Wikimedia Commons

Part V of the Ukraine Crisis

In 1988, this columnist wanted to write a message for the policy and decision-makers of the United States and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR). I wanted to tell them that they could use the “Russian Experience” as part of the American Melting-Pot history, which is the biggest in the world. Then the Cold War could have been mitigated — for genuine global peace and cooperation — had the leaders of both countries used it as a public relations, if not as a tool in their bilateral talks. There would have been no Russian-Ukrainian War today, some 34-years later.

This journalist started writing in 1988 a column called “Unsolicited Advice” in the Filipino Journal and its sister publication, The Manila Standard-Los Angeles Edition publications (now both defunct). Then I was invited to join the Filipino-American Press Club of Los Angeles, Inc. (FAPCLA), the first Overseas-Filipino Fourth-Estate organization. It was organized in 1976. The FAPCLA founding president, Romeo P. Borje, requested me to join it. Mr. Borje was then writing also a column for the said twin publications.

This columnist suggested likewise to then FAPCLA president, Fred Muñoz (now deceased) that our press club could sponsor an American-Russian Friendship Day every March 30th. But Mr. Muñoz did not include the idea in the press club’s monthly meeting agenda. My fellow writers in the twin publications probably did not see the relevance of my suggestion. This prompted the publications’ copy editor, Poet-pundit Fred Burce Bunao (now deceased), to comment that “Filipino journalists can write irrelevant matters for as long as they are not irreverent.”

Here is what I wanted to write: The Russian colonization of North America covered the period from 1732 to 1867. The first Russian colony in Alaska was founded in 1784. The United States bought Alaska on March 30, 1867, from the then-Russian Empire.

Alaska is also the home of a group of formerly-nomadic “Russian Old Believers.” This group arrived in 1968 after a split from the Russian Orthodox Church led to journeys around the world. They eventually settled in a quiet corner of the Kenai Peninsula, where Russian heritage is still evident in many ways. One piece of evidence of the continued Russian presence in Alaska is the fact that the state has 90 Russian Orthodox churches.

“They eventually settled in a quiet corner of the Kenai Peninsula, where Russian heritage is still evident in many ways. One piece of evidence of the continued Russian presence in Alaska is the fact that the state has 90 Russian Orthodox churches.”

Serious students of history know also that the Russian Empire of the czars was defeated by the Bolsheviks (aka “Red Russians”) in 1917. Thousands of the czarist-government supporters (called the “White Russians”) fled to Mainland China via Siberia. They temporarily settled in Chinese cities until the United States started welcoming them to the Philippine Islands (P.I.), which was then an American colony. Eventually, many of the White-Russian refugees were admitted to the Continental United States (CONUS) as immigrants.

After the Communists won the civil war in China in 1949, the remaining White-Russian refugees in China fled to the Philippines, which became an independent country in 1946. Here are more data about them as featured in this article “PH a ‘paradise’ for grateful White-Russian refugees.”

“The White Russians fought the communist army in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, later fleeing to European countries, and Shanghai, China. After the establishment of the communist regime in China, they again had to leave. Only the Philippines under President Elpidio Quirino gave them sanctuary.

“From 1949 to 1951, Tubabao became the biggest refugee camp in Philippine history, accommodating nearly 6,000 White Russians. The camp housed professors, engineers, architects, artists, ballerinas, doctors, lawyers, priests, and former officers of the Czar’s army. The refugees even held concerts and cultural shows.”

The Rappler.com article failed, however, to mention the White-Russian refugees in the P.I. in the years 1917-1919. But almost all of the White-Russian groups of refugees eventually settled permanently in the CONUS — except for those that married Filipino brides (or grooms) and decided to raise their family in the P.I.

Russian women are just as famous as the Filipino versions of “mail-order brides.” It appears that Russian brides came in second after the Filipinas in number and possibly in beauty also.

“After the Communists won the civil war in China in 1949, the remaining White-Russian refugees in China fled to the Philippines, which became an independent country in 1946.”

Here is a report dubbed How Many Mail-Order Brides? Robert J. Scholes wrote it in April 1997. The INS later published a version of it that was entitled The ‘Mail-Order Bride’ Industry and Its Impact on U.S. Immigration.

Here are some applicable paragraphs in the said 25-year-old report: “At any one time, there are approximately 90 agencies offering the names, addresses, pictures, and short biographies of around 25,000 women who are looking for husbands. The women listed by these services are predominantly Filipino or Russian, but entries may be found from nearly every country of the world. Most of these agencies update their listings quarterly (some more often, some less), indicating that the annual number of women available as ‘mail-order brides’ is in the neighborhood of 100,000.

“Of these 10,000 (actual marriages), around 4,000 involve U.S. men. The remainder is distributed among Canadian, Australian, European and, increasingly, Japanese clients.”

Perhaps our project of documenting the “Overseas-Filipino Melting Pot” can include the White-Russian refugees that first stayed in the Philippines. And the Russian modern-day brides in the United States (as compared to their Filipino counterparts) may be relevant pieces of the documentary series.