In the Shadows of Mt. Rushmore: Background
Gutzon Borglum had become, like Rodin, a de facto national sculptor. In 1925, the United States Mint, with the approval of Congress, issued a Stone Mountain commemorative silver half dollar to help fund the project. Borglum’s many other statues, celebrating various luminaries, some locally and some widely known, were raised in places as disparate as Portland, Oregon, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Paris. He continued to be immune to the tensions that inhere in his projects and beliefs.