Building Mount Rushmore

Building Mount Rushmore — page 1 — The Confederate Memorial Carving is on Stone Mountain near Atlanta Georgia

Building Mount Rushmore — page 2 — Chapter One An Idea Comes to Life The year was 1923 South Dakota had been a state for thirty-four years Beautiful South Dakota did not draw many visitors Why not In the 1920s getting to South Dakota was hard There were no highways There were no airports Doane Robinson was the state historian He had a vision Robinson heard about the work of Gutzon Borglum Borglum was a sculptor In 1923 he was creating a sculpture of Robert E Lee in An Idea Comes to Life 5

Building Mount Rushmore — page 3 — Georgia Borglum was carving this sculpture into Stone Mountain Robinson wanted people to visit South Dakota He wanted people to come from all over the United States Robinson heard that many people were driving to visit Borglum’s work Maybe people would drive to see a sculpture in South Dakota too This portrait of historian Doane Robinson was taken in 1928 An Invitation and Two Trips In August 1924 Robinson wrote a letter inviting Borglum to South Dakota Borglum visited the Black 6 Building Mount Rushmore

Building Mount Rushmore — page 4 — Hills twice with his twelve-year-old son Lincoln During the second trip the sculptor found his canvas Gutzon Borglum chose Mount Rushmore for his famous sculpture in August 1925 This was what Mount Rushmore looked like in August 1927 This was before carving began The lines on the rocks mark placements for the presidents An Idea Comes to Life 7

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