MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL SOCIETY OF BLACK HILLS

 John A. Boland, Sr. 

President of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society of Black Hills

 

The state of South Dakota and the community of the Black Hills have logically and with undiminished zeal¹ accepted a considerable financial and moral responsibility in the evolution of this magnificent Shrine² of Democracy.

 

Through the successive stages of locating, planning, sculptoring, improving and publicizing Mount Rushmore, a liaison⁴ with Sculptor³ Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln, the President, the Congress and the Department of Interior has been maintained through the instrumentalities of three nonprofit organizations.

 

The Mount Harney Memorial Association was first authorized⁵ to “carve a memorial in heroic figures” under an act of Congress, approved by President Coolidge on March 4, 1925. Brought into being through a bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature, the Association entered into a formal contract with Gutzon Borglum and work was commenced in 1927.

 

Subsequently in 1929, when Federal funds were appropriated for matching purposes, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission was created, consisting of twelve members to be named by the President.

 

Appointed by President Coolidge to serve on the commission were John A. Boland, Rapid City, S. D.; Charles R. Crane, New York, N. Y.; Joseph S. Cullinan, Houston, Texas; C. M. Day, Sioux Falls, S. D.; D. B. Gurney, Yankton, S. D.; Hale Holden, Chicago; Frank O. Lowden, Oregon, Ill.; Julius Rosenwald, Chicago; Fred W. Sargent, Evanston, Ill. and Mrs. Lorine Jones Spoonts, Corpus Christi, Texas.

 

Mr. Cullinan became the Commission’s first president and Mr. Boland was named chairman of the executive committee at a session in the White House, where it met upon invitation of the President on June 6, 1929.

 

It was the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission which assumed financial responsibility for the Memorial, taking over all property and contracts from the Mount Harney Association, employing the services of a staff for the sculptor and disbursing⁸ federal and privately-solicited funds during the course of construction.

 

It was also the parent organization for the present Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society of Black Hills, incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia in 1930. And while the Society’s objectives were identical with those of the Commission, it had additional authority, including the sale of memberships, management of concessions⁹ and the use of available funds for advertising¹⁰ and publicity¹¹.

 

A long list of “Who’s Who” in America and South Dakota have been recorded in the annals and on the membership roll of the Mount Rushmore Society. Membership certificate No. 1 is held by John Hays Hammond, world famed mining engineer, lecturer, consultant¹² of Cecil Rhodes and active in the development of hydro-electric and irrigation projects. Number two belongs to Newton D. Baker¹³, Secretary of War under President Wilson and a one-time member of the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague.

 

Other original members, some of whose heirs hold the certificates, are John N. Garner¹⁴, vice⁷ president of the United States; Julius Rosenwald, American merchant and philanthropist; Sewell L. Avery, chain store magnate; Mary Garden, American operatic soprano; Walter Dill Scot, author and president of Northwestern University; Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1931, and Vilhjalmur Stefanson, Arctic Explorer, to mention a few.

 

The Society’s Board of Trustees presently is composed of Paul E. Bellamy, John A. Boland, Mrs. Gutzon Borglum, Lincoln Borglum, Francis Case, Fred C. Christopherson, Miss Nina Cullinan, George E. Flavin, Mrs. William Fowden, Mrs. Peter Norbeck, Robert E. Driscoll, Sr., Eugene C. Eppley, Mrs. Frank M. Lewis and William Williamson. Walter H. Johnson is treasurer¹⁵ and K. F. Olsen secretary. The Commission is not active at this time.

 

Originally a portion of the Federal Game Sanctuary¹⁶ in the Harney National Forest, the 1,686-acre tract⁶ that comprises the Mount Rushmore National Memorial was established in 1929 but did not come under the National Park Service jurisdiction¹⁷ until 1939.

 

During the interim¹⁸, the South Dakota State Highway Commission constructed the present Memorial Highway from its junction¹⁹ with U. S. Highway 16. It also built the Iron Mountain Drive with the three tunnels that frame the Shrine of Democracy. The planning and intricate engineering skill that went into building the Iron Mountain Highway was extremely ingenious in itself.

The End
 

1 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

2 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

3 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

4 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

5 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

6 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 disbursing   

v.支出，付出( disburse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Couldn't he have surprised the thief in the disbursing office and been murdered? 也许是他惊动了财务支出室的小偷而被杀？ 来自电影对白
• I understand that the Lender approves a loan by disbursing it. 本人理解贷款银行通过放款的方式批准贷款。 来自互联网

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

12 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

13 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

14 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

15 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

16 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

17 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

18 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

19 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。