Ep.39: Mount Rushmore

August 14, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode will be on a sculpture that is bigger than any other on the planet. Carved into Mount Rushmore in South Dakota it depicts four presidents, but could have easily featured American West heroes instead. Gutzon Borglum designed and sculpted the monument which he worked on with his son Lincoln Borglum until his death in 1941 shortly before the project was ceased due to lack of funding.

Today’s mnemonic is on the four presidents that make up the Mount Rushmore sculpture.

With that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Rushmore_monochrome.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy,[2] and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum.[3][4] The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865).[5] Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.[1] The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively.[6] The memorial park covers 1,278 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2)[7] and the mountain's elevation is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.[8]

The sculptor chose Mount Rushmore in part because it faces southeast for maximum sun exposure. The carving was the idea of Doane Robinson, a historian for the state of South Dakota. Robinson originally wanted the sculpture to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, their expedition guide Sacagawea, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud,[9] Buffalo Bill Cody,[10] and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse.[11] Borglum believed that the sculpture should have broader appeal and chose the four presidents.

Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding.[12] Construction began in 1927 and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941.[13]

The sculpture at Mount Rushmore is built on land that was illegally taken from the Sioux Nation in the 1870s. The Sioux continue to demand return of the land, and in 1980 the US Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians that the taking of the Black Hills required just compensation, and awarded the tribe $102 million. The Sioux have refused the money, which has grown per interest to over a billion dollars, and demand the return of the land. This conflict continues, leading some critics of the monument to refer to it as a "Shrine of Hypocrisy".[14]

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Rushmore_in_July.jpg

Mnemonic

Mount Rushmore Presidents Mnemonic (left to right) - GuTT on Abraham Lincoln

(Picture Abraham Lincoln’s Mount Rushmore sculpture having a massive gut)

1. George Washington – 1789 to 1797 (First President – Full 8-year term)

2. Thomas Jefferson – 1801 to 1809 (start of century - Full 8-year term)

3. Theodore Roosevelt – 1901 to 1909 (start of century - Full 8-year term)

4. Abraham Lincoln – 1861 to 1865 (Civil War – same dates)

Five Fun Facts

1. There was much debate as to who would be the fourth face, with Teddy Roosevelt edging out Woodrow Wilson who led America through the first World War.

2. A fifth face was considered, which was Susan B Anthony a women’s rights activist. Congress decided no, due to money being scarce during the great depression and also the threat of WWII.

Now apparently, Obama was offered to get his face carved into Mount Rushmore. But he declined and stated. He didn't want to get ahead of himself!

There were talks about adding Trumps' head to Mount Rushmore.

But they couldn't find rock that was thick enough………. I really hit rock bottom with that joke ……. Sorry Don!

3. Mount Rushmore was named after a New York attorney Charles E. Rushmore who visited and subsequently climbed in 1885.

4. The reason why each president was chosen

George Washington (1789 – 1797) was chosen because he was the nation’s founding father.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was chosen to represent expansion.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was chosen because he represented conservation and the industrial blossoming of the nation.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was chosen because he led the country through the Civil War.

5. Gutzon Borglum was the head sculpture of the project who died seven months before it was finished. His son Lincoln then took over and finished the project before it was ceased due to lack of funding.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Rushmore_National_Memorial_MORU2014.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Which American President on Mount Rushmore was chosen for the writing of the Declaration of Independence and for making the Louisiana Purchase?

Q.2. Ninety percent of the carving was done by what? Chisels, Jackhammers or Dynamite

Q.3. The carving of Mount Rushmore began in 1927 and finished in what year?

Bonus Q. Which face was originally started on the opposite side (to the left) of George Washington, but was changed after they realized the granite was too weak?

Mnemonic Recap

Mount Rushmore Presidents Mnemonic (left to right) - GuTT on Abraham Lincoln

(Picture Abraham Lincoln’s Mount Rushmore sculpture having a massive gut)

1. George Washington – 1789 to 1797 (First President – Full 8-year term)

2. Thomas Jefferson – 1801 to 1809 (start of century - Full 8-year term)

3. Theodore Roosevelt – 1901 to 1909 (start of century - Full 8-year term)

4. Abraham Lincoln – 1861 to 1865 (Civil War – same dates)

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. Which American President on Mount Rushmore was chosen for the writing of the Declaration of Independence and for making the Louisiana Purchase?

A. Thomas Jefferson

Q.2. Ninety percent of the carving was done by what? Chisels, Jackhammers or Dynamite

A. Dynamite

Q.3. The carving of Mount Rushmore began in 1927 and finished in what year?

A. 1941

Bonus Q. Which face was originally started on the opposite side (to the left) of George Washington, but, was changed after they realized the granite was too weak?

A. Thomas Jefferson. And that was after 18 months of carving before they finally realised the granite was too weak

Word of the Week

perorate

[ per-uh-reyt ]

verb (used without object)

to speak at length; make a long, usually grandiloquent speech.

Example

Most presidents could perorate to the cows come home.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

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