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| Mount Rushmore, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, features sculptures of four of the greatest Presidents of the United States: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Source: Used under License of Corel Photo CD.
Honoring America's Great Presidents
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On Monday, February 15, 2015, we celebrate a holiday that has become known as “Presidents’ Day”. But is it more than just a day off of work or when businesses offer deals on appliances, carpet or furniture?
The history behind Presidents’ Day goes back to the early 1800’s. After George Washington died in 1799, his birthday, which was February 22, was “unofficially” celebrated by many patriotic Americans in honor and remembrance of the first US President and the “Father of our Country”. However, it wasn’t until 1885, that Washington’s Birthday was officially established as a National Holiday celebrated annually on February 22.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which went into effect in 1971, officially moved several Federal Holidays to Mondays, creating more “three day weekends” for families. One of the goals and arguments supporting the promotion of the change, was that three day weekends would stimulate the travel industry and increase business commerce. Hence the now common “Presidents’ Day Sales”, really do have an actual historical origin in the law as it was supposed to be helping to stimulate business and economical growth.
The new law changed the official date to celebrate Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Depending upon how the calendar falls, it can occur between Feb 15 and 21. That date was chosen under a proposed provision in that Act that would combine the celebration with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which was February 12.
As we are honoring and remembering the Great Presidents that have help build and strengthen America, Mount Rushmore is the one place that memorializes 4 of the greatest US Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
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Work at Mount Rushmore in progress under the direction of Sculptor Gutzon Borglum.
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Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, was born in the Idaho territory in 1867. His family moved to Nebraska while he was still young where his father established a medical practice. He studied art and sculpture in Paris at the Julian Academy, where he met and was influenced by famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Borglum had built a reputation for several patriotic works of art, ranging from a bronze memorial statue at Gettysburg of confederate soldiers from North Carolina, to a six ton marble head of President Lincoln that was exhibited in the White House during Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency.
Work on Mount Rushmore started in 1927. After 13 and a half years of work, Gutzon died in March 1941 before Mount Rushmore was finished. His son Lincoln, supervised some finishing touches on the faces through the Fall of that year. Shortly thereafter, the United States entered World War II and with the country’s resources being devoted to the war effort, further work stopped.
Over the decades, Mount Rushmore has become a familiar symbol of America, recognizing 4 of the greatest Presidents of the United States. Each year over 3 million people come to witness in person one of the greatest historic memorials and artistic ingenuities in American History.
“The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the
founding, expansion, preservation, and unification
of the United States with colossal statues of
Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt."
Gutzon Borglum
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As we are honoring and remembering the Great Presidents that have help build and strengthen America, follow us the rest of Presidents Day Week as we share some highlights of each of those four Great Presidents seen on Mount Rushmore.
Snapshots Across America features Mount Rushmore as one of the attraction game cards that players can learn about as they travel across the game-board map of America:
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