In 1927, when patriotism was an honored sentiment, Gutzon Borglum undertook the carving of four of our greatest Presidents into the solid granite rock of Mt Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota. Borglum, the son of Norwegian immigrants, was an artistic genius who thought on monumental scale and was a manager who could oversee a project of this scope.
He wished to commemorate for the ages -- Washington the Founder; Jefferson the Builder; Lincoln the Preserver; Teddy Roosevelt the Developer.
The grand undertaking began with support from President Calvin Coolidge and South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck. The sculptor built 12 foot models of the heads and torsos now preserved in the sculptor’s studio. After a few false starts, the work began – 400 workers took part (with no fatalities). The carvers climbed 700 steps to the top to then be suspended over the mountain cliff on bosun chairs for the day’s work. They used dynamite charges to rough out the 60 foot high heads and then removed additional granite for the presidential faces to emerge in all their simple grandeur. In 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the partially completed monument. Work stopped during the years of World War II.
Would our nation in 2011 be able to initiate this project? Or would we become tied up with disputes about whom to honor? And what about the environmental impact studies? Could we alter the landscape by blasting the granite off a mountain peak, leaving a large talus slope under the images carved in rock? And who would build the support systems needed to take care of the millions of visitors over time? OSHA would certainly not issue a permit for this effort--- or if it did, the requirements would preclude the construction. And certainly, it would be a budget breaker.
Many thanks to the generations who came before us, who had the vision and wisdom to proceed with this noble monument to which people from all over the world come and pay homage.
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