Palace Temple House of Labor

[Charlotte Douglas]

Thanks very much for the additional information.  I believe both 
Reed's and Kropotkin's funerals were held in the "Hall of Columns", 
presumably somewhere close to the main central entrance - in front of 
which there now appears to be a boat landing.

BTW, the building is beautifully visible from a height of 2200 feet 
on Google Earth, at 55 degrees, 44' 56.95" N; 37 degrees, 38' 10.26" 
E.


>Charlotte Douglas wrote:
>Can anyone tell me the location of the "Temple of Labor" in Moscow 
>in 1920?  It was the site of John Reed's funeral.
>and then:
>>Thank you everyone for your help.  As I now understand it, the 
>>building was (and still is) on the Moscow River Embankment, further 
>>down from the Kremlin toward Kitai gorod, on the same side of the 
>>river.
>>It also seems from Emma Goldman's memoirs that in addition to 
>>Reed's funeral in 1920, the hall was used for Kropotkin's funeral 
>>the next year.
>>Charlotte
>
>         Additional info:  The building(s) in question, at #7 
>Moskvoretskaia naberezhnaia, on the left bank just below the 
>Kitaigorodskii proezd, is a large complex of buildings built up over 
>the 18th-20th cc.  Begun in Catherine II's reign and designed by 
>K.I. Blank, the original classical core of the complex (1760s-1780s) 
>was constructed as the Foundling Home (Vospitatel'ny dom) and school 
>(see Brumfield, p. 319).  Its Moscow River facade stretches some 380 
>meters.  The complex was designed (but not finished in the 18th c.) 
>to house up to 8,000 orphans.  In the 19th c. it was expanded by 
>several buildings and was used more as a school than an orphanage. 
>After the October Revolution all or part of the complex was 
>transferred to the Vsesoiuznyi Tsentral'nyi Sovet Professional'nyikh 
>Soiuzov and became known as the Dvorets soiuzov, appearing in 
>translation variously as the "Palace" or "Temple" of Unions.  Lenin, 
>of course, vystupil here in March 1919.
>
>         In 1938 all or part of the complex became the Voennaia 
>akademiia im. Dzerzhinskogo.
>
>         I say "all or part" of the complex more than once above 
>because I'm not familiar with the precise subdivisions of the 
>complex and exactly how they were used and when, or how they are 
>used at present.  Maps show a campus of numerous buildings at #7 
>extending the equivalent of approx. 3 city blocks along the river 
>from Kitaigorodskii proezd downstream to the Bol'shoi ustynskii 
>most, and inland a full block to that section of Solianskii tupik 
>that parallels the river.  Current photographs show a huge river 
>facade of the original 18th-c. structure with central portico and 
>belvedere above, crowned by a squared cupola and spire.
>
>         Maybe someone else will be able to offer info on that part 
>of the complex where John Reed lay in state and apparently where his 
>funeral was held.  I'm guessing that it was some sort of ceremonial 
>space in the central portion of Blank's original building. 
>Published photographs of his body lying in state don't show much of 
>the room; the floor is ordinary parquet, nothing fancy.
>
>Jack Kollmann
>Stanford University
>
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