The map below shows where Soviet citizens, who were required to have a detailed itinerary approved before obtaining a visa, could and could not go during their time in the United States. As you can see, all of Oneida County appears to be in a restricted zone (the green colored areas in central NY State); this was undoubtedly the result of Griffiss Air Force Base being located in Rome. However one notable except was made for travel purposes. Soviet travel to the City of Utica was, in fact, allowed despite it being located in a otherwise "no-traveling" area.
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
The restrictions established in 1953 mirrored Soviet constraints on American travel to
the USSR. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had closely
controlled the movement of all foreign visitors since World War II. A
1952 law in the U.S. barred the admission of all Communists, and
therefore of Soviet citizens. (An exception was made for government
officials.) As of early 1955, citizens of either nation could enter
approximately 70 percent of the other’s territory, including 70 percent
of cities with populations greater than 100,000. Travel restrictions on Soviet private citizens stayed in place,
enforced by the Departments of State and Justice, until the Kennedy
administration unilaterally lifted them in 1962 as a symbol of the
openness of American society.
