The Liberation of Marguerite Harrison
America's First Female Foreign Intelligence Agent
Marguerite had never imagined she would marry again. She had many male friends and some “charming” interludes, but none of these relationships had ever tempted her to give up her freedom and settle down. Then she met Arthur Middleton Blake. Marguerite gave few details about how she came to know the aspiring British actor other …
Back in New York, Marguerite busied herself making ready for the premiere of Grass. She tried to help write the narration for the silent film, but she found herself at odds with her partners. She disliked the melodramatic script the editors wrote, complaining that they put artificial speeches into the mouths of simple nomads. She …
Continue reading "Harrison helps found Society of Woman Geographers"
Marguerite Harrison felt both relief and regret when she learned that Solomon Mogilevsky had been killed in a plane crash in the Caucasus Mountains. When she left Russia in 1923 she knew that she would never see him again, and she sensed that his death had been no accident. As with Robert Imbrie, rumors swirled …
Continue reading "Mogilevsky dies in mysterious plane crash"
After more than a year of traveling throughout the Middle East, Marguerite Harrison returned to the United States find that Tommy was engaged to Margery D. Andrews, the granddaughter of one of the founders of Standard Oil. They wed on October 3, a month after Marguerite’s return. Marguerite, now forty-six, felt herself at loose ends. …
Continue reading "Harrison returns to the U.S. and uncertain future"
Confusion and conspiracy theories arose almost immediately after Imbrie’s. Who had incited the mob? Why had they attacked the vice consul? Persian newspapers and the Russians blamed the British, saying they instigated the religious protests as a way to exert their own authority in the region and maintain their exclusive oil agreements. The British blamed …
Robert Imbrie’s murder came during an unsettled time when Muslims in Tehran were protesting against followers of the Baha’i faith. Just days before his death, Imbrie had ordered protection for two American Baha’i missionaries. Then on Friday, July 18, 1924, a crowd gathered around a well the Muslims believed was sacred. A rumor spread through …
Continue reading "Imbrie’s murder deals blow to American oil ventures"
While they were in Tehran, Marguerite did not stay with Merian Cooper or Ernest Schoedsack. The men lodged with American vice consul Robert Imbrie and his wife, Katherine. Marguerite stayed with American financial adviser Thomas Pearson and his mother on the outskirts of the city. The arrangement is perplexing. She described the Pearsons as two …
The trek with the Bakhtiari lasted 46 days. Halfway through the trip, Marguerite became severely ill with malaria, forcing the tribe to pause its journey for several days until she could recover well enough to mount her mule. After crossing a river on a goatskin raft and climbing a rugged snow-covered mountain, Marguerite was relieved …
Continue reading "The Americans arrive in mysterious and dangerous Tehran"
The Bakhtiari men ruled harshly over the women, who did most of the work around the camp. While the men gossiped with their neighbors, the women milked the sheep and goats and prepared the meals. Cooper and Schoedsack joined the men, lounging around the tents. Marguerite didn’t work with the women, but she soon found herself busy …
Continue reading "Marguerite tends to ill Bakhtiari, amputating a finger, expelling a leech"
The Liberation of Marguerite Harrison 