Robert C. Johnson of Madison was among the soldiers sent to Russia. His father was dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. After graduating from college, he entered the military and served as adjutant and chief photographer with the U.S. Army's North Russian Expeditionary force based in Archangel from 1918 to 1919.

Johnson's collection of glass-plate and nitrate negatives records the efforts of the Allied forces as they defended the area from Bolshevik attacks. As an engineer, he was careful to document numerous types and styles of blockhouse fortifications. As a soldier, he also took photographs of the forces fighting alongside the Americans and the lifestyle of the troops. He also recorded Allied soldiers' interactions with local Russians, capturing images of their heritage and culture as expressed in local markets, religious buildings and ceremonies, and day-to-day life.

 

This gallery contains more than 240 photographs taken by Johnson in Russia in 1918-1919. In 1957 he donated more than 700 photographs spanning his entire professional career to the Society. Some of the 1918-1919 images appeared in the 1979 article, "Wisconsin in the Midnight War," alongside quotes from letters and other writings of Wisconsin soldiers. Most of these images have never been published before.