Gregory I. Samoylenko Papers

Born in a small village in Russia in 1897, Gregory Samoylenko studied to become a naval aviator at Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. While there, he witnessed and chronicled the first days of the 1917 February Revolution. Later, he fought against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War, and after the White Army's defeat he immigrated to the United States via Constantinople. Settling in the Boston area, he finished his education, married and worked as an engineer for the Boston Edison Company 1929-1962. He died in Newton, MA in 1976. 

A major component of Samoylenko's collection are drafts, notes, and typescripts begun in the 1920s that were intended to serve as the basis for a future memoir. The unfinished and unpublished memoir documents Samoylenko’s peasant childhood in turn-of-the-century Russia and briefly touches upon his experience during the revolutions of 1917 as a cadet.  

The collection also contains official documents that pertain to Samoylenko’s studies, military service, and employment prior to his emigration to the United States in 1922.

Also included are photographs from before and after Samoylenko’s emigration, newspaper clippings, immigration documents, and various realia, including Samoylenko’s epaulets and Cross of St. George medal awarded for valor.