History & Area Studies / World History / European History

Why 100,000 American Women Fled the US for Stalin’s Russia?

In the 1920s and 30s, while America was booming, thousands of the most educated, progressive women—journalists, engineers, artists—abandoned Manhattan for Moscow. They were chasing a dream of equality, free love, and a new society. But what they found was a brutal collision with totalitarianism. Based on Julia L. Mickenberg’s book *American Girls in Red Russia: Chasing the Soviet Dream*, this video uncovers the shocking reasons behind this mass migration, the utopian promises, and the devastating reality of Stalin’s regime. From the Kuzbas colony’s dishwashing wars to the silencing of black filmmakers, discover how the Cold War erased this forgotten chapter of history—and why their struggles mirror our own today.