George Kennan
A fanpage for my favorite journalist!
Who is George Kennan?
George Kennan was a 19th century explorer and journalist who specialized in Russian topics. He wrote several books that gained some notoriety- namely "Tent Life in Siberia" about his time in Kamchatka working for the Russian-American Telegraph, and "Siberia and the Exile System" about the conditions in Siberia during the 1880s. He is often confused with his cousin twice removed- George F Kennan, whom he shared his name, birthday (February 16th, though Kennan the Elder was 59 years older), and interest in Russia with (GFK was involved in the Cold War. Both Kennans were banned from Russia).
Kennan's Seal
Designed by him and his wife Emilline to mark his personal library. This motif also appears on his grave.
CLICK ON A BOOK TO VIEW IT
Great sources
INSTITUTIONS
- New York Public Library - 7 boxes of his documents
- Library of Congress Kennan Papers - 137 boxes of his documents. A few of his journals are digitized on here.
- Library of Congress Photos - collection of photos he took.
- Medina Historical Society - village where he lived on and off. His wife is from there and he is buried there.
- Wilson Center - Home of the Kennan Institute, some of his letters are digitized here.
BOOKS
- George Kennan and the American-Russian Relationship, 1865-1924 by Frederick Travis
- Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia by Gregory J. Wallance
WEBSITES
- The Victorian World - has some of his articles written for the Century
OTHER
- Encyclopedia Arctica - Unpublished encyclopedia entry about Kennan, by GFK's sister Jeannette Hotchkiss
Timeline
- FEB 16 1845 - Born in Norwalk, OH
- 1857 - Left school to become a telegraph operator in his father's office
- SEPT 1865 - Took position with Alaskan-Siberian expedition of Western Union Extension
- AUG 21 1865 - Arrive in Petropavlovsk, his first time in Russia
- FEB 27 1867 - All work abandoned on Collins Overland telegraph
- FEB 10 1868 - Left St. Peterburg via Berlin
- JAN 1869 - First article "Tent Life with the Wandering Koraks" in Putnam's
- JAN 1869 - First lecture
- JUL 6 1870 - Back in St. Petersburg
- SEP 12- NOV 15 1870 - In the Caucasus
- JAN 1871 - Returned to Norwalk
- SUMMER 1871 - Became cashier at Union Bank of Medina in Medina NY
- MAY 1876 - Quit bank
- JUNE 1876 - "Went to New York with his books and $50 in his pocket"
- JULY 1877 - Accepted job in the Law Department of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company
- SUMMER 1879 - Became night manager of Associated Press in Washington
- SEPT 25 1879 - Married Emeline Rathbone Weld in Medina
- 1879 - First time he used a telephone
- NOV 1880 - Began series of articles on the Jeannette Relief
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- MAY 10 1924 - Passes away in Medina, NY
100 Years!
May 10th, 2024 marked the 100th anniversary of George Kennan's death- and naturally, as a Kennan fan, I had to visit his grave! I flew in to Buffalo, NY from Phoenix, AZ with my parents and proceeded on to the Village of Medina where he was buried in 1924. We visited his grave at Boxwood Cemetary on the 10th (the morning after flying in) and met up with a lovely woman, Catherine Cooper, who I contacted through the Medina Historical Society- she's the only other George Kennan fan I've met as well as being the Orleans County Historian! We left flowers on his grave, looked through the contents of his file at the Medina Historical Society (Amazing!!), and I got a tattoo to commemorate the trip- an illustration of a dog from the 1881 edition of Tent Life in Siberia. Catherine wrote a whole article about me on the Orleans County Blog, you can read that here.
Outfit Worn in Siberia via Medina Historical Society
Irkustsk Dec 1885 via Medina Historical Society
Wearing Siberian Convict Outfit via Library of Congress
Special thanks to the wonderful historians who helped or are currently helping keep his memory alive! Thank you to Jeannette Hotchkiss, sister of George F Kennan, for all of her correspondences with those who knew Kennan. She did a lot of work after his death and, though I never met her, I am very grateful for the writings she left behind. Thank you to Professor Frederick Travis, whose book on Kennan was so well sourced that it opened up doors for me to find out more. And thank you to Catherine Cooper at the Orleans County Historical Society for being so kind and showing me so much!