The Liberation of Marguerite Harrison
America's First Female Foreign Intelligence Agent
The winter of 1920 was brutal in Moscow. An economic blockade imposed by Western countries and the upheavals of revolution and civil war left the people cold and starving. Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva placed her children in an orphanage because she was unable to feed them, but the younger child, not yet three, died of …
Marguerite was betting that the guards on the frontier would find her an interesting diversion and so not shoot her. Her hunch proved to be correct. The guards were shocked to discover an American female reporter who told them she wanted to go to Moscow to report on the great Bolshevik experiment. But while they …
Continue reading "Harrison provides diversion to bored troops"
Marguerite Harrison secured permission from the Polish commander in Vilna to cross the border into Russia. She returned to Minsk with the safe conduct pass and discovered that the resourceful Dr. Karlin had found smugglers willing to take them to Barysaw where they could slip into Russia. Farman reports "B's" entry into Russia. On Feb. …
Marguerite Harrison spent two months in Poland trying to figure out a way to enter Russia. The two countries were at war, which heightened both the risks and opportunities. Occasionally prisoner exchanges took place along the border at Minsk and a shady characters ran a brisk contraband trade. In December, Marguerite sent a cryptic message …
Continue reading "Harrison searches for a way to enter Russia"
The Liberation of Marguerite Harrison 