Isaiah Oggins was an American-born communist and spy for the Soviet secret police. After working in Europe and the Far East, Oggins was arrested, served eight years in the GULAG detention system, and was summarily executed on the orders of Joseph Stalin.
The American Thread Company's Jillson Mills in Willimantic, Connecticut, where Oggins was born and grew up
Early 20th-century photo of Harbin, site of Oggins' last posting before his arrest by the Soviets
21st-century photo of Norillag (the Norilsk GULAG), where Oggins spent most of his imprisonment
Oggins died while under observation by Grigory Mairanovsky of the effects of curare (here, as part of a South American hunting kit)
Willimantic is a census-designated place located in Windham, Connecticut. Previously organized as a city and later as a borough, Willimantic is currently one of two tax districts within the Town of Windham. Willimantic is located within Windham County and the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. Known as "Thread City" for the American Thread Company's mills along the Willimantic River, it was a center of the textile industry in the 19th century. Originally incorporated as a city in 1893, it entered a period of decline after the Second World War, culminating in the mill's closure and the city's reabsorption into the town of Windham in the 1980s.
Image: Downtown Willimantic
Image: Town Hall, Willimantic, CT
Image: Jillson Mills, Willimantic, CT
Aerial view of Willimantic, 1909
