On this historic day, September 17, 1937, the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln was officially dedicated at Mount Rushmore.

Abraham Lincoln’s likeness on Mount Rushmore was officially dedicated on this day in history, September 17, 1937.

As the 16th President of the United States from 1861 to 1865, Abraham Lincoln led the country through some of its darkest years.

He is considered by many scholars to be the greatest president our country has had, according to Visit Rapid City in South Dakota.

“He was instrumental in the abolition of slavery and is credited with starting the work to preserve the United States after the Civil War,” the same source cited.

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On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated while attending a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC.

He died the next day, April 15, 1865.

Mount Rushmore pays patriotic tribute to four U.S. presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln – with 60-foot-tall faces carved into the mountainside in the Black Hills of South Dakota, according to National Geographic.

George Washington’s head on Mount Rushmore was officially dedicated in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937 and Roosevelt in 1939, according to several sources.

The sculpted faces of American presidents represent one of the greatest examples of sculpture in the world.

The sculpted faces of American presidents are fashioned from granite rock faces and were created between 1927 and 1941.

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They represent one of the greatest examples of sculpture in the world.

Mount Rushmore is also one of America’s most popular tourist attractions, as History.com notes.

Bikers stop to admire Mount Rushmore in August 2021. Each August, hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts are drawn to southwest South Dakota for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The mountain itself, at an elevation of 5,725 feet, was named in 1885 for Charles E. Rushmore, a New York lawyer.

The memorial spans two square miles. The United States National Park Service assumed administration of the site in 1933, according to Britannica.com.

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However, many Native Americans believe that Mount Rushmore represents a desecration of land considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux, the original inhabitants of the Black Hills region who were displaced by white settlers and gold prospectors in the late 19th century, says the same source.

Objective of attracting tourism

In an effort to attract tourism to the Black Hills in the early 1920s, South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson came up with the idea of ​​carving several giant pillars of natural granite into the shape of heroes history of the West, according to History.com.

He suggested Red Cloud, the Sioux chief who signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie, as a potential subject, reports the same source.

In the final days of his presidency, President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation providing $250,000 in federal funds for the Mount Rushmore project.

Then, in August 1924, after the original sculptor he had contracted with was unavailable, Robinson contacted Gutzon Borglum, an American sculptor who was then working to carve an image of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on the face of Stone Mountain in Georgia, according to several sources. sources.

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In 1929, during the final days of his presidency, President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation providing $250,000 in federal funds for the Mount Rushmore project and created the National Mount Rushmore Memorial Commission to oversee the completion of Mount Rushmore. Rushmore, according to History.com.

Abraham Lincoln’s likeness on Mount Rushmore was officially dedicated on this day in history, September 17, 1937. (Hulton Archives/Getty Images)

“But with the onset of the Great Depression, Mount Rushmore quickly suffered from financial problems and multiple work stoppages. It took 14 years to build, only six of which were invested in the sculpture. Most of that “Time was spent trying to raise funds and political and public support,” according to The Press Democrat.

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In the end, Mount Rushmore was built for $1 million, 85% of which came from federal funding, the same source says.

On October 31, 1941, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial was declared a completed project, according to the National Park Service.

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Today, more than two million people travel to the Black Hills each year to see Mount Rushmore, according to the National Park Service.

It’s no surprise that the most popular time of year to visit is around July 4, when more than 30,000 people attend the annual fireworks show.

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