Mount Rushmore National Memorial
by Patricia Januszkiewicz
Title
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Artist
Patricia Januszkiewicz
Medium
Photograph - Painterly Photo Art
Description
American History, Alive in Stone...
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is visited by nearly three million people each year that come to marvel at the majestic beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota and learn about the birth, growth, development and preservation of the country. From the history of the first inhabitants to the diversity of America today, Mount Rushmore brings visitors face to face with the rich heritage we all share.
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres (5.17 km2) and is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level. The tallest mountain in the region is Harney Peak (7,242 ft or 2,207 m).
South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of famous people into the Black Hills region of South Dakota in order to promote tourism in the region. Robinson's initial idea was to sculpt the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles site because of the poor quality of the granite and strong opposition from environmentalists and Native American groups. They settled on the Mount Rushmore location, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Robinson wanted it to feature western heroes like Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud and Buffalo Bill Cody but Borglum decided the sculpture should have a more national focus, and chose the four presidents whose likenesses would be carved into the mountain. After securing federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941.
The U.S. National Park Service took control of the memorial in 1933, while it was still under construction, and has managed the memorial to the present day. It attracts nearly three million people annually.
Uploaded
March 25th, 2013
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Comments (9)
Patricia Januszkiewicz
Thank you Susan for the feature in your group Women Photographers! Very appreciative of the honor ..... patricia
Flow Fitzgerald
Nice photo lovely shade of grey with the rocks! Never saw it in real but it must be really impressive! What a job! v
Mary Deal
Really like this image. Patricia, you seem to have traveled a bit. v
Patricia Januszkiewicz replied:
Thank you, Mary! yes, I have traveled quite a bit and still do but when I had work related international travel, I didn't have a digital camera .. what a shame, but have lots of hard copy photos ... wishing they were digital .... appreciate your visit and comments ..... patricia