Photograph of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia the Younger
Photography
2025.5.5.10.PH.OT.C1940.US
Description
Photograph of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia the Younger in front of a stairwell the day she registered under the Alien Registration Act of 1940. She wears a plaid jacket over a tie top blouse featuring a turtle print. A top her head she ports a fascinator hat with a silk band and tulle veil. She wears gloves and holds two purses, and an umbrella.Maria Pavlovna the Younger (1890-1958) was a Russian grand duchess, the daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, youngest son of Tsar Alexander II, and Princess Alexandra of Greece. A prominent figure in the Romanov exile community after the Russian Revolution, she lived in Europe and the U.S., where she worked as a fashion designer and wrote a memoir, Education of a Princess (1930).
The Alien Registration Act of 1940 or Smith Act required non-citizen residents in the U.S. to register with the government and made it illegal to advocate for the violent overthrow of the government, often targeting suspected communists and leftists.