Had goosebumps as we approached this American icon, marveling at the extraordinary likeness to....heyyywaitadarntutinminute (Foghorn Leghorn)...that ain't Lincoln. It's CRAZY HORSE!
Had a great visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial in Crazy Horse, SD. Click on this photo (from their website) to see all they've done there to commemorate Crazy Horse and American Indian culture in North America. Their museum feels more homey than the Smithsonian's National Museums of the American Indian in NYC and DC. (Mark found this to be very underwhelming. Enjoyed sleeping through the intro movie. Twice.)
Okay, now back on the road, this time to see Mount Rushmore. Hey look, even from the road we can see Washington, Jefferson, Teddy, no wait, isn't that Sacagawea? I think it's Janis Joplin and Eric Clapton. It's easy to see why Gutzon Borglum chose these rocks to carve; they all look like people!
WARNING: HISTORY DETOUR! Skip the next three posts if history's not your thing. So, here's a little interlude on GUTZON BORGLUM, the sculptor whose artistic vision catapulted Mount Rushmore into American iconography. (Ken, this post is for you.) Yes, this son of Danish immigrants was a first generation American who shared the white supremacism of many Nordic people of his time. And yes, Borglum enjoyed his Klan membership and all the business connections he gained from it. Yes, that's how he was selected to design the plans for Stone Mountain in Georgia, a mountain-sized commemoration of Confederate giants Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. Yes. Yes. Yes.
But Gutzon Borglum is a confusing guy (with, let's face it, an equally confusing name). This Klan member created numerous celebrated statues of Abraham Lincoln; one can still be seen in the U.S Capitol and another at the County Courthouse in Newark, NJ. He even chose to name his only son LINCOLN. He describes Mount Rushmore as a memorial to the "preservation and unification" of the United States. None of this made fellow Klansmen happy. Then on the very same day that President Calvin Coolidge stood at Mount Rushmore to dedicate the land for the project, the President made a fateful decision that would infuriate Borglum and lead him to his next Klan-defying artistic project.
In the city of Boston, two Italian immigrants, Sacco & Vanzetti, were set to be executed for a crime they never committed. On the day Coolidge visited Mount Rushmore, he was asked to give Sacco & Vanzetti a stay of execution, and the President refused. Two weeks later, the Italians died in the electric chair. Upon hearing of this, Borglum began the work you see below (click photo for info), expressing his outrage with this atrocity of justice to Italian immigrants. Wait, is Borglum sticking up for Italian immigrants in some Yankee city??? Loyal Klansmen had been lynching dirty Italian immigrants in the South for decades (Whaaa? click here to learn about this). Why the heck is Klansman Borglum honoring these "dagoes" (Klan term). Gutzon Borglum is, indeed, a confusing guy.
DINGGG (bell ring). History class is over.
Here's a stunning picture that Mark took! (Mark: If you haven't already figured this out, Judy is completely fascinated and obsessed with Gutzon Borglum. I am so glad we are done having children. Otherwise, I think we would have a son named Gutzon).
Walkway to the monument is lined with flags from...wait...49 states??
Mississippi's should arrive in an air conditioned UPS truck any day now.
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