W. Averell Harriman Standing in Boat By Stalin Statue
Partial view of W. Averell Harriman standing at the end of a boat near a large statue of Stalin positioned on the Volga River. According to Thayer's typewritten account of the trip, "we reached the mouth of the Volga Don canal where a gigantic statue of Stalin rises 70 meters above the river on a granite pedestal. The statue alone is 27 meters high..." Charles W. Thayer accompanied Harriman as a guide and confidant on the trip which took place May 12 - June 26, 1959. Harriman went as a special foreign correspondent for the North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA).