Forward

The first Russians came to the west coast as colonists
rather than immigrants, exploring 
Alaska,
the Pacific Northwest and California. Starting in the 1880s, political =
and
economic turmoil, coupled with government-sanctioned anti-Jewish riots
called pogroms, caused millions of Jews to come to the big eastern
cities of the United States.
Non-Jewish immigrants of the time,
mostly farmers, found work as laborers 
in
mills, meatpacking, construction, and mining. 
The Bolshevik revolution in 1918 led to the creation of the
Soviet Union and the emigration of most
of the Russian aristocracy (the "first wave").
Joseph Stalin's brutal dictatorship (1926-1953)
led to a large anti-Soviet army that allied
itself with the Germans during the World War II and escaped
to the United States after that war (the "second wave").
Finally, the partial opening of emigration policy in the late 1980s
coupled with easy U.S. immigration for Soviet Jews, Ukranian Catholics, and 
Evangelical Christians formed the beginning of the third wave
that extends through today.

The life stories  from this third wave
illustrate the high levels of education, ambition and
independence of Russian migrants. 
They also characterize the ethnic mix of Russian immigrants.
In fact, while millions of persons have come to the US from Russia in 
the
last 120 years, less than 20 percent of these were ethnically Russian. 
About
half were Jews. Others were Catholics, Protestants, Latvians, Poles, and
Armenians. While immersed in Russian culture and language, members of 
these groups suffered severe discrimination
at the hands of the Russian Orthodox majority.

As is evident in many of these interviews, Soviet citizens were proud of
their ability to "make do" and enjoy a high standard of living in the 
Soviet Union
despite discrimination, war, shortages and purges. 
Often, they became skillful manipulators of the system, achieving
access to luxuries such as a car, 
consumer goods, a rich cultural life and the resources required 
to give life chances for their children.
As Erving Goffman pointed out in Asylums, 
the sense of accomplishment a person derives from 
obtaining
scarce privileges or goods through unconventional means is often more
valuable than the actual possession of the good or privilege in itself. 
Russians' ability to cope with their environment is rooted in their
families. 

Due to the shortage of housing endemic in the former USSR, it was
common for extended families of 3 or 4 generations to reside together in
very close quarters. Further, because the birth rate among urban, 
middle-class Russians was low, Soviet youth maintained close relationships
with their parents and kin.
Relatives provided young Soviets with political/bureaucratic influence
(useful for securing school and career opportunities) as well as 
emotional support.

The USSR adhered to socialist-inspired egalitarian ideology that called 
for
women's involvement in the paid labor force. Further, because many men 
in the
former Soviet Union served in the military or died in war,
women's labor was in high demand. Before entering
the US, Soviet women were accustomed to working outside of the home for 
income as well as taking care of their households.
Having already adopted a practical and pragmatic approach to family and
career prior to migration, Russian women have been better equipped at adapting 
to
life in the States than their husbands. As these stories illustrate,
men often mourn the careers they lost in migration, and spend months or 
even
years in an effort to secure an equivalent position, leaving their wives
to
care for children and support the family. By contrast, women usually
resolved to do what was necessary to care for themselves and their 
children.
Further, Russian women often master English and became competent in 
American
culture prior to coethnic men. Soviet
women's pre-migration survival techniques appear to work well in the US,
leaving them with a feeling of security, and a degree of optimism about
their own and their children's futures.

<some ending>