Mount Rushmore by Unknown, 1932

ABOUT THIS PHOTOGRAPH

This view shows the Mount Rushmore National Memorial under construction in the 1930s. Finding their balance on the bridge of George Washington’s nose is Gutzon Borglum, the chief sculptor, along with an unknown assistant. Meanwhile the face of the first president gazes out over the South Dakota landscape. By the time that this photograph was taken in May 1932, almost a decade had passed since the idea of a vast memorial had first struck a man called Doane Robinson. A lawyer turned historian, in 1923 Robinson had decided that an awe-inspiring sculpture in the nearby Black Hills would help to raise South Dakota’s profile. He first approached a sculptor called Lorado Taft who had previously completed a huge statue called The Eternal Indian in Illinois. Taft refused the commission and Robinson later approached Gutzon Borglum who proved far more enthusiastic. Over the years that followed the project took shape. The faces of four presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln – were to be cut into the granite pillars of a mountain that had long been known by the Lakota people as the ‘Six Grandfathers’. This place would soon gain a new name: Mount Rushmore. – Peter Moore

Taken: May 31st, 1932
Location: Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States
Photographer: Unknown
Remaster: Jordan J. Lloyd
Original Format: Original negative
Commercial Use: ⇲ License this Image

RELATED PRINT

This photograph is also available as a ⇲ restored & remastered colorized original print from our ⇲ ColorGraph Co. imprint.