18: Mount Rushmore: America’s Weirdest Monument (Part 1)

An Old Timey Podcast

In this series, we’re talking about something… pretty weird! It’s the fact that, roughly 100 years ago, a handful of people thought it’d be a really good idea to carve four gigantic faces into the side of a mountain. But why did they do it? Whose idea was it?? And finally, they were so busy asking if they could… DID THEY EVEN THINK TO ASK IF THEY SHOULD???
In this episode, we take a look at the man who designed Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum. We look at his childhood, his early career, his weird sibling rivalry, and we wrap up with the strange, true story of how he almost made Mount Rushmore: Confederate Edition!
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from:
The book, “The Carving of Mount Rushmore,” by Rex Alan Smith
The documentary, “Mount Rushmore”
“The Sordid History of Mount Rushmore,” by Matthew Shaer for Smithsonian Magazine
“The Carving of Stone Mountain,” PBS.org
“Biography: Gutzon Borglum,” PBS.org
“Biography: Mary Borglum” PBS.org
“The heartbreaking, controversial history of Mount Rushmore,” by Amy McKeever for National Geographic
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