Abstract: The research subject of this article is the process of forming a community of Russian post-revolutionary emigration in the United States and the role of this migration flow in the local public life, as well as the structural evolution of the Russian diaspora in the 1920s – 1940s. The author focuses attention on the reasons behind the emigration of the representatives of the “first wave” Russian émigrés to the American continent, the attitudes towards American politics and culture among various sociopolitical and demographic groups of the Russian diaspora, the particularities of the Russian refugees' adaptation process in the United States and the degree of their involvement in the world abroad. The article's study is founded on the principles of scientific objectivity and systematics, using the subject-historical, problem-chronological, comparative and other special methods of historical research. The novelty of this work lies in the identification and description of the information contained in archival sources and rare periodical publication concerning the socio-mental and ideological motivations of migration from the centers of the Russian diaspora in Europe, China and other regions of the world to the United States and the aspects of the Russian émigrés' adaptation in America. The conducted study shows that the decision to move to the United States was made by socially active emigrants, who sought to start a new life abroad. This attitude was often perceived by some members of the Russian émigré communities in Europe as a rejection of the historic mission of the Russian emigration - of the hope of returning to the homeland. Epistolary and journalistic sources attest the rejection of American culture and lifestyle by many immigrants from Russia. At the same time, the democratic émigré press actively promoted the image of the United States as a great free country.