The Mount Rushmore National Memorial, nestled in the granite stone of the Black Hills of South Dakota, stands as a monumental tribute to four of the most influential presidents in United States history. Renowned as America’s Shrine of Democracy, it features the eighteen-metre-high faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
The inception of Mount Rushmore began with a vision by South Dakota historian Doane Robinson, who initially proposed a monument featuring Western heroes such as Buffalo Bill or the formidable warrior chief Red Cloud. However, the sculptor Gutzon Borglum chose to immortalise four US presidents as a monument that would appeal to all Americans. Borglum’s selection was symbolic: George Washington, the nation’s founding father and Revolutionary War hero, represented the birth of the United States; Thomas Jefferson was chosen for his role in the nation’s expansion; Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery and preserved the Union during the Civil War, stood for unity and equality; and Theodore Roosevelt symbolised the modern development of the country.
Construction of the Mount Rushmore Memorial began on 4 October 1927. Under Borglum’s direction, a team of forty men dynamited the rocks and used power tools to carve the heads of the presidents into the mountain. But the project faced numerous setbacks, including severe weather conditions and financial constraints due to the Great Depression and the outbreak of World War Two.
After nearly fourteen years of work, Gutzon Borglum died while en route to Washington to secure additional funding. His son, Lincoln Borglum, took over and finally completed the monument on 31 October 1941, just a few months after his father’s death.