Mission to Moscow, aboard the Europa, 1932. A group of African-American film makers on board a ship to the U.S.S.R.

Photograph of a group of 20 African Americans (8 women, 12 men) on the deck of the ship, Europa, enroute to the U.S.S.R. The group is probably the Mechrabpom Film Group whose intent was to produce a film shot in the U.S.S.R. portraying the Soviet Union in a positive way to be used in an effort to pursuade the United States to officially recognize the U.S.S.R. diplomatically and otherwise. Parallels were seen between the relationship of African Americans to the white power structure in the U.S. and a) the Czar and his subjects, b) the Jew in Russia, and c) the female in Russian Turkistan. The group is standing and sitting (in deck chairs) around a lifesaver bearing the words "Europa, Bremen." Only a small part of the deck and its structures are visible in the background. The identified individuals are Loren Miller (top row, far right, in the shade) and Langston Hughes (2nd row from top, 6th from left). Taken in the 2nd week of June 1932.