THIS DAY IN HISTORY Oct 4, 1927: Work begins on Mount Rushmore On this day in 1927, sculpting begins on the face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota. It would take another 12 years for the impressive granite images of four of Americas most revered and beloved presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt--to be completed. The monument was the brainchild of a South Dakota historian named Doane Robinson, who was looking for a way to attract more tourists to his state. He hired a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum to carve the faces into the mountain. According to the National Park Service, the first face to be chiseled was George Washingtons; Borglum first sculpted the head as an egg shape, his features added later. Thomas Jeffersons image was originally fashioned in the space to the right of Washington, but, within two years, the face was badly cracked. Workers had to blast the sculpture off the mountain using dynamite. Borglum then started over with Jefferson situated on the left side of Washington. Washingtons face was the first to be completed in 1934. Jeffersons was dedicated in 1936--with then-president Franklin Roosevelt in attendance--and Lincolns was completed a year later. In 1939, Teddy Roosevelts face was completed. The project, which cost $1 million, was funded primarily by the federal government. Borglum continued to touch up his work at Mount Rushmore until he died suddenly in 1941. Borglum had originally hoped to also carve a series of inscriptions into the mountain, outlining the history of the United States.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 02:01:09 +0000
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