Society for Technical Aid to Soviet Russia
The Society for Technical Aid to Soviet Russia was organised in May 1919 by Russian émigrés in New York City, United States. Similar societies were set up elsewhere in the US and Canada. The aim of the Society was to promote the rehabilitation of the Russian SFSR economy by sending skilled workers and technicians.
The first congress of the societies for technical aid to the Russian SFSR was held in New York from July 2-4 1921; it united local societies in several American and Canadian cities into a single Society for Technical Aid to Soviet Russia. From the end of 1921 to October 1922, the Society sent to the Russian SFSR seven agricultural, two construction and one mining communes and a number of groups which brought with them equipment, seeds and foodstuffs worth nearly $500,000. The Society was extending its activity, and by 1923 it had more than 75 branches with over 20,000 members. Its second congress in June 1923 adopted a decision to intensify its work of organising and sending in communes and preparatory groups of skilled workers to Russia. The Society continued its active economic aid until 1925.[1]