The Liberation of Marguerite Harrison
America's First Female Foreign Intelligence Agent
Marguerite knew the Reds suspected her, but she tried to tell herself they had no evidence against her. Then one night in early April as she walked from work at the Foreign Office, a soldier stopped her in the street and demanded her name. When she told him, he replied, “You’re arrested.” The soldier led …
Marguerite had been in Moscow a few weeks when a frail-looking man in a sheepskin coat knocked on her door. He was Francis McCullagh, a British intelligence officer who had been left behind at Omsk when British troops retreated from Siberia. After a harrowing, three-week journey, he had arrived in Moscow without documents and was …
Throughout late February and early March 1920, Marguerite Harrison interviewed numerous Soviet officials, including some powerful women. Today is International Women's Day, so it's fitting to acknowledge these female revolutionaries. Among those was Angelica Balabanova, the secretary of the Third International, the organization of Communists from around the world. Balabanova and Harrison had much in …
Today marks an important milestone in the history of U.S. foreign intelligence. On Feb. 21, 1920, Marguerite Harrison, the nation’s first female foreign intelligence officer, arrived in Moscow to take up her mission for the U.S. Military Intelligence Division. Posing as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun and the Associated Press, she set about gathering …
The day after she reached Moscow, the Foreign Office informed Marguerite Harrison she would be allowed to stay in the city for two weeks. She radioed the Associated Press to report her arrival. Over the next several days interviewed a number of Bolshevik officials, including Felix Dzerzhinsky, the dreaded head of the Cheka. At the …
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"
Merian C. Cooper in Poland Marguerite Harrison reached Poland just in time for the winter holidays. Conditions were harsh. Five years of war had left Warsaw in shambles. Poland, which had emerged from the remnants of three empires, struggled to gain a foothold in the new European order. War had broken out with Russia as …
The Liberation of Marguerite Harrison 