November Letters, 4 November 1921-28 November 1921

This file contains letters Marjorie Rackstraw sent during November of 1922. Letters are from Moscow, (also written Mokba, the Russian pronunciation for Moscow), and she describes the activities of her days: going to the ballet at the Opera House by night, and distributing milk to nurseries by day. She writes of distributing cocoa, tinned condensed milk, and soap. Those of a higher pay grade like chauffeurs and interpretors on her team receive a weekly ration of fat, sugar, beans or rice, cocoa or jam. She writes about news concerning the effort, like a donation from a commercial group in Sweden, but storms and weather patterns clearly have the strongest power over their efforts. In addition to the letters is a report in this file titled Milk Distribution of Moscow for Nov. 1921. The last letter describes the journey from Moscow to Buzuluk, where the greatest need for famine relief was.

Her letter from the 26 November mentions her close departure for Buzuluk, where the worst of the famine is. "I am afraid you must not expect another letter for a good while as I am off to Buzuluk tomorrow and letters come through very slowly. also I don't think I shall feel able to write very much because I know it will be so heart-rending. It is far worse than I ever thought it could be. However, we must just do our level best." She goes onto speak of the A.R.A's work (American Relief Administration), along with the Soviet authorities themselves. Even the Pope is sending food! Despite these efforts, she maintains the view that it will take the all governments to combine to solve this impending problem.

There is a report in this file titled Milk Distribution of Moscow for Nov. 1921, which gives detailed numbers of recipients of milk deliveries, and a general overview of the situation in Moscow. She writes about ways people are making do with little (ex. using condensed milk tins as mugs, by rounding off the sharp edges and adding handles) because so much is on order and has yet to arrive. All in all, facilities are extremely clean and well cared for.