Soviet Yakutia

The exact date of this episode is unknown. We've filled in the date above with a placeholder. What we actually have on record is: 196u-uu-uu.

In this travelogue profile of Soviet Yakutia in northern Siberia, the various ethnic groups of the region are described including one as 'slant eyed.' There is a brief history of the area where industry is nearly non-existent. The commentator suggests that the Tsar was not interested in developing the region. However, all that changed with the coming of the Socialist revolution of 1917 when the rich men's stock and lands were seized and given to the people. Elected councils of the people were put into place, and there was complete equality for all groups in an autonomous republic. Road building was not easy because of permafrost and Russian specialists came and helped the Yakuts. Increased food supplies and medicines also began to pour in over the new roads in the backward and once forgotten region. Illiteracy also became a target.

Dramatization of a literacy worker coming to the house of an illiterate Yakut.

Ten years after the revolution all children in Yakutia went to school, and the region began to have its own professionals. There was development of mining in Yakutia which brought advancement for the population. Diamonds were discovered in the 1950s, and this brought about changes for region. Men and women came from other parts of the Soviet Union to help with the diamond mines. Colleges and a university opened. Because of the permafrost, building had to be placed on piles. Yakutsk is now described as a modern town with moving picture theaters and a concert hall. Other cities have gone up near the diamond mines and gold fields.
Air travel links all towns in the region, and prices are affordable to workers as well as hunters.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 150810
Municipal archives id: T7885