Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, 1,278 acres (518 hectares), SW S.Dak., in the Black Hills; est. 1925, dedicated 1927. There, carved on the face of the mountain and visible for 60 mi (97 km), are the enormous (60 ft/18.3 m high) heads of four U.S. presidents—Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. The sculpture was designed by Gutzon Borglum, who had even more ambitious plans for the site. These were abandoned when he died (1941), and the work was finished later that year by his son Lincoln. In all, it took 14 years to complete the figures, which during the summer are visited by more than 20,000 tourists daily. See National Parks and Monuments, table.

Bibliography

See J. Taliaferro, Great White Fathers: The Story of the Obsessive Quest to Create Mount Rushmore (2002).

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Colossal sculpture, Black Hills, southwestern South Dakota, U.S. Sculptures of the heads of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are carved on the granite face of the mountain, which is 5,725 ft (1,745 m) high. The four heads, each about 60 ft (18 m) high, represent, respectively, the nation's independence, democratic process, leadership in world affairs, and equality. The memorial was dedicated in 1927. Work on it was carried out during 1927–41 under the direction of Gutzon Borglum.