How did the Russian bells get to Lowell House? (part 1)

In June or July 1930, Whittemore now in Moscow hires a Russian architect to design machinery for lowering the bells from the campanile. At the request of Crane, Whittemore engages Konstantin Konstantinovitch Saradjev, a well known campanologist (not a monk as several histories of the bells incorrectly maintain) who is to certify that the bells are intact after their descent to the ground, and if they are, to accompany the bells to America. Saradjev gets an exit permit from Russia, which is contingent upon obtaining an entry visa from the United States. This presents a significant stumbling block since in 1930 there is no American Embassy in Russia. This restriction frustrates Whittemore as well as Lowell. Whittemore (August 6) suggests that in order to obtain a visa for Saradjev he be admitted to Harvard as a “music student” but Francis Hunnewell, Secretary to the Harvard Corporation, being privy to this correspondence, advises against such action. He points out “it might get us into difficulties with the immigration authorities and imperil the admission of other foreign students.” He is particularly concerned because Saradjev would be entering the United States as a Russian national.

Figure 5

Lowell seeks intervention by the Assistant Secretary of State, William Castle, at one time Lowell’s Dean of Students at Harvard, and whom Lowell addresses as merely “Dear Castle.” By letter, Lowell asks Castle to help get Saradjev into the United States and to request that the German embassy in Moscow issue a transit visa. Lowell, obviously wishing to let Gano know that he (Lowell) is on top of matters, sends to him a copy of the letter to Castle with an attached memorandum. Castle is indignant, scolds Lowell, and says that the Department of State never instructs foreign embassies. Although Lowell has initialed the memorandum forwarding the letter to Gano he nevertheless assures Castle that the letter was sent from his office without his knowledge, as he was out of town. Crane now learning of the problem with visas intervenes and dispatches his office manager, Brodie, to press this cause at the State Department in Washington. Brodie returns to New York empty handed. Having failed to generate any action by Castle, Lowell in the meanwhile is forced to deal with Whittemore in Moscow through Seth Gano. Finally, three weeks into August, and the bells presumably in transit, Lowell, impatient, cables directly to the German Embassy in Moscow and the American Consulate in Hamburg (Figure 5), and thereby Saradjev obtains a transit visa through Germany and an entry visa to America but too late for him to accompany the bells on their voyage to the United States.

Figure 6

Whittemore has also engaged the services of “Epstein,” an antiquarian at 26 Tevestia St., Moscow, to ship the bells, which leave Moscow overland to Leningrad and then Hamburg for an ocean trip at some time after the 20th of July 1930. (Figure 6) The port of entry is uncertain, either New York or Boston. Meanwhile, Crane writes to Harvard that he will pay any duty at the port. Notwithstanding, as early as February 1930, six months earlier, Lowell begins to seek duty free entry into the United States. He variously claims that there are 33 bells in the zvon, the number required to escape duty, or antique bells since “all Russian bells are antique” (antiques also escape duty). In addition, he has also been busy trying to arrange intervention through his senator (Frederick H. Gillett) and congressman (Frederick W. Dallinger) to permit the bells to enter the United States duty-free. Dallinger promises to help by inserting an appropriate clause in pending tariff legislation. This he proves unable to accomplish. Although only some of the bells qualify as “antique,” Harvard certainly paid no duty, but whether or not duty was exacted I have been unable to determine.

In the fall of 1930, students are now living in Lowell House, and the tower is incomplete, awaiting the arrival of the bells. The first shipment of 12 bells arrives at Lowell House on October 12, with the remaining six arriving shortly thereafter. To mark the occasion, a news release from Harvard Information Office reads as follows: “A carillon of twenty three bells purchased, for Harvard College, and intended to hang in the tower of Lowell House, reached Cambridge this morning. They are a set of Russian bells of bronze, 25 tons in weight. It is hoped that they may be put in place about February 20th.” What happened to five bells? Were they lost in transit? Probably, simply an error made by the Information Office. Saradjev now in residence, is supposed to instruct the contractor on the method of hanging Russian bells, which are stationary; and are tolled, by swinging the clapper. Who pays for Saradjev’s travel?

The architect appears to have obtained his first comprehensive information on the dimensions and weight of each bell only after the bells arrived at Lowell House. The first architectural drawing is dated October 22, 1930. On this plan there are two lists. One labeled, “Our List” comprising 18 bells and a second list labeled “Bellringer’s List” comprising 34 bells (the number could also be 32 or 33 depending on how the notation is interpreted), 18 of which are also on “Our List.” Only 18 bells arrived, 17 placed in the Lowell House tower and the 18th sent to the business school. The fact that the drawing contains two lists invites speculation. The “Bellringer” is of course Saradjev. He arrived later than the bells, perhaps around October 22. His list represents the number of bells in the bell tower at the Monastery, 18 of which were “sold” to Whittemore, and are on “Our List.” In January 1930, when Whittemore received the revised architectural plan for the bell tower, he wrote to Crane saying he was taking it to Russia to measure the bells and determine whether they would fit in the space allotted by the architects. There probably were 34 bells in the Monastery tower and Whittemore chose a selection of 18 that would fit in the Lowell House bell tower. And that is the number shipped to Cambridge. This would also explain why President Lowell in early February thought his zvon would consist of 32 bells.. Four months after arrival at Cambridge and $250,000 later the bells are hung and tolled for the first time on February 22, 1931.

I can find no record that Harvard was ever formally or informally offered a gift of the bells or accepted the bells. Yet President Lowell certainly expected to get the zvon as early as December 1929 even if at that time he knew neither how many bells were coming or the foundering dates. There seems to be no record at Harvard or in the Crane archives of the transaction by which Whittemore acquired the bells. Did money change hands? If so, who got it? Was the transaction a proper government arrangement or was there someone with dirty hands? There seems no reason to hide the transaction since certainly by 1929 and perhaps a year or two earlier, the Soviet government formally “approved that the most reasonable resolution for liquidation of unique bells is to export them abroad and sell them.” Obviously it would have been impossible to take down the bells without government consent. In a recent interview Blochin Alexander Nikolaevich, currently Executive Manager of the Monastery said that the Monastery has no record of a transaction involving the bells. Considering the circumstances in Russia at the time, it would have been surprising if the Monastery had been involved in what we can assume was a government approved transaction. It has not been possible to learn whether Whittemore ever got $1000 from Crane. It is reasonable to assume, however, that Whittemore bought the bells from the government. How much he paid and in what currency remains unknown.

Harvard maintains an inventory of all property, and although the list is considered to be both extensive and comprehensive, it makes no mention of Russian bells. Since the bells don’t “exist” the Office of the General Counsel can have no document attesting to ownership. A memorandum from the General Counsel of Harvard dated July 29, 1985 states “It was practice during this time [1929] for the Corporation to accept gifts and provide commentary when there were unusual conditions or uses attached.” The minutes of the Corporation 1927–1931 list innumerable gifts both large and small, and though a gift of 18 Russian bells would certainly qualify as unusual, there is no mention of such a gift. The Annual Report of the President often listed gifts. There is no record of a gift of Russian bells in the reports of 1928–31 nor is there such a record in the minutes of the meetings of the Overseers.

Were there two sets of bells, one bought in 1928 and one in 1930? This seems highly unlikely for among the Crane typescript papers is a handwritten note to the effect that “Crane gave Russian bells to Harvard in 1931” and there is no reference in his papers to any other gift of bells. This note appears to have been written by an executor of the estate since Crane had all of his memories typed before he died. There is no record in the archives of Barings Bank, London of an account in Crane’s name or that of the Committee for the Education of Russian Youth in Exile. Nor is there a record in the bank of any transaction by which Whittemore got $1000 in June-July, 1928. Notwithstanding, is it possible that Whittemore somehow acquired the bells in June 1928 at the time he asked Crane for the $1000, and then allowed them to remain in the campanile until July 1930. This would have been a risky decision in 1928 because of the precarious state of church and monastery property. If Crane owned the bells in July 1928, and being a prudent man, he would probably have tried to get the bells out of Russia promptly.

Figure 7