In the spring of 1959, UW alumni and staff member Lawrence G. "Larry" Monthey joined a tour of the Soviet Union and other European countries. Organized by the Wisconsin State Journal, participants visited cities in Norway, Finland, the Soviet Union, and Denmark between May 16, 1959 and June 8, 1959. The tour focused on agriculture-related sites and events and included many well-known landmarks in the former Soviet Union. The images presented here document various destinations and educational events in Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev and Kharkov.

A student of Aldo Leopold, Lawrence Monthey received his BS in Soil Conservation (1940) and MS in Soil Science (1947) from UW-Madison. He worked for twelve years as an editor with the American Society of Agronomy and later with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension in Madison. In the later years of his life, he was a wild foods expert for the Environmental Resources Unit at UW-Madison and conducted wild plant and mushroom seminars throughout the state of Wisconsin for which he received wide recognition. He was an expert in the areas of wild foods, medicinal plants and mushrooms. He also worked as a travel-recreation specialist for the UW Extension. Larry Monthey died in January 1985.

This photo collection, the Lawrence G. Monthey Tour to Europe (Accession #2012/194) was donated to the UW-Madison Archives in 2012 by Monthey's family. The UW-Madison Archives maintains additional biographical information about Monthey's career and work in agriculture.

For more information about Lawrence G. Monthey, this photo collection or UW-Madison history, contact the University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives.