American Gallery - A Story of Two Giants

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: American Gallery – A Story of Two Giants
Date: March 23, 2026
Featured Radio Play: "An American Gallery: The Story of Two Giants" (Mount Rushmore & John Gutzon Borglum)
Starring: Ed Begley as Gutzon Borglum
Host/Narrator: Voice of Lorne Greene

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Episode Overview

This episode of Harold's Old Time Radio presents a classic dramatization from the golden age of radio, spotlighting the creation of Mount Rushmore and its visionary sculptor, John Gutzon Borglum. Through character-driven storytelling, the play details the inspiration, challenges, politics, and perseverance that shaped the monument into a national icon. The narrative covers historical figures, struggles for funding, public opposition, and the lasting impact of Borglum's work.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Mount Rushmore's Immortality

• Mount Rushmore is introduced as a symbol of the American ideal, a lasting tribute "to endure for millions of years" (00:36).
• The story is framed as "the story of two giants: Borglum, the sculptor; and Mount Rushmore, the monument" (00:36).

2. The Inspiration and Invitation

• Borglum's family life is depicted, showing a tender moment with his son Lincoln before a telegram from Doane Robinson, a South Dakota historian, arrives, inviting Borglum to design a monumental sculpture (03:07).
• Discussion with Robinson about the Black Hills, considering the vastness and natural beauty, and whether art can “compete with God's own sculpture” (04:47).

3. Art Versus Nature and Local Opposition

• Debate with local activist Myra Jackson about preserving the natural landscape versus commemorating American ideals in stone (06:35):
  • "Mrs. Jackson, it would seem that one of God's miracles already seems disturbed." – Gutzon Borglum (07:02)
• Robinson and Borglum emphasize that true American art should memorialize the nation's political and cultural achievements (06:02–06:29).

4. Political and Financial Struggles

• Funding and bureaucratic hurdles: Congressional bills, state appropriations, gubernatorial opposition, and the need for plans to pass the Commission on Fine Arts (09:41–11:29).
• Gutzon expresses frustration with the legislative red tape but maintains his vision:
  • "This is the mightiest nation in the world and we don't have a monument bigger than a snuff box." – Borglum (12:13)
• Robinson, Norbeck, and others are caught between enthusiasm and repeated financial shortfalls (16:03, 15:23).

5. Envisioning the Monument

• Borglum outlines the faces: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, each chosen for symbolic contributions to American growth and ideals (12:48–13:53).
  • "A memorial to the builders of this nation." – Borglum (12:48)
• The play captures skepticism about honoring Roosevelt so soon after his presidency (13:18–13:53).

6. Overcoming Obstacles: Publicity and Perseverance

• The importance of publicity in fundraising, with hope that President Coolidge's summer stay will draw national attention (16:07–16:32).
• Key quote on the struggle:
  • "It's just so blamed infuriating to realize what we have to go through to give dimension to a dream." – Borglum (16:37)

7. Construction Setbacks and Personal Sacrifices

• Financial stress during the Great Depression, delays due to technical mistakes (blasting Jefferson’s head), and ongoing funding woes (21:43–22:51).
  • "Once rock is blasted away, it's gone forever." – Borglum (22:39)
• Borglum’s family supports him, especially Lincoln, who becomes his assistant (21:43–22:01).

8. Dedications and Legacy

• Poignant scene: The 4th of July, 1930, dedication of the Washington face (20:12).
• Subsequent dedications: Jefferson (1936), Lincoln (1937/38), Roosevelt (1939) (26:03–26:22).
• Reflections on the monument's intended permanence:
  • "A million years from now, who's going to care how long it took you to polish Teddy Roosevelt's mustache? So do it right, son. Do it right." – Borglum (27:01)

9. The Final Years and Borglum’s Words

• Borglum leaves for surgery, with his son Lincoln continuing the work (27:01–27:35).
• The episode concludes with Borglum’s own words on his dream being realized:
  • “There on the mountaintop, as near to heaven as we could make it, we have carved portraits of our leaders that posterity and civilization may see hundreds of thousands of years hence… a belief that there among the clouds, they may stand forever, where wind and rain alone shall wear them away.” – Borglum (28:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Art, Truth, and Heroism:
  • “Sometimes a father who spends all his time carving statues likes to be the kind of hero his son can look up to.” – Gutzon Borglum (02:30)
  • "I'm both [stubborn and dedicated]." – Gutzon Borglum (12:13)
• On American Ideals:
  • "Drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement. But an Indian isn't enough." – Borglum (06:02)
• Wry Humor and Defiance:
  • “Now, you mind what I taught you, son... So do it right, son. Do it right.” – Borglum (27:01)
  • “I'll send you each some marble dust.” – Borglum, on longevity (14:34)

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Important Timestamps by Segment

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-----------|------------------| | 00:36 | Introduction to Mount Rushmore & Borglum | | 03:07 | Invitation to sculpt Black Hills | | 06:35 | First confrontation with Myra Jackson | | 09:41 | Political hurdles, bill passage | | 12:13 | Borglum's vision for a grand American monument | | 12:48-13:53| Choosing the four presidents | | 16:07 | Coolidge’s visit and fundraising | | 20:12 | 4th of July, 1930, dedication of Washington face | | 21:43-22:51| Depression challenges, technical mishap | | 23:45 | Plan to appeal directly to President Roosevelt | | 25:19 | Dedication of Jefferson face | | 26:03 | Discussion of subsequent dedications | | 27:01 | Borglum’s departing counsel to his son | | 28:04 | Borglum’s dream realized in his own words |

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Conclusion

"An American Gallery: A Story of Two Giants" is a sweeping, dramatized account of Gutzon Borglum’s quest to immortalize American ideals on a granite canvas. The episode delivers rich characterization, historical context, and memorable scenes, emphasizing not only the scale and ambition of Mount Rushmore, but also the perseverance, political intrigue, and family story behind its realization. Listeners are given a thoughtful, human perspective on one of America’s greatest monuments—and the artist whose dream made it possible.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

Level Up Expo to introduce this episode of An American Gallery. Here is Lorne Greene.

America has nine national memorials. There is varied in their appearance as the history they honor. The last of the nine is carved on a 6,200 foot granite mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It's known both as the Four Faces and more properly, Mount Rushmore. It was sculpted by an American genius named John Gutzon Borglum, and the beauty of its mass promises to last an eternity as a monument to the American ideal. This, then, is the story of two giants. Borglum, the sculptor and Mount Rushmore, one of our national memorials.

John Gutzon Borglum, sculptor, saluted this week on An American Gallery. Ed Begley stars as Gutzon Borglum in a story of two Giants.

[Gutzon Borglum]

All right, Lincoln. Hit it like the Babe would. Here she comes. My passport.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Home run, dad. Home run.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Good hit, son. All right, Babe Ruth, come and help me find the ball in these shrubs.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Did you see it fail, dad? I'm hitting almost as good as you.

[Gutzon Borglum]

But you'll have to admit your old man still pitches better. Right, Lincoln?

[Lincoln Borglum]

Oh, sure.

[Gutzon Borglum]

But you play professional ball, Lincoln, since you're now 12 years old, 12 and a half. I think it's time I made a confession. I never played professional ball. I mean, you know as well as I do I was born in Iowa. Now, what teams does Iowa have in the national or American League?

[Lincoln Borglum]

None, dad. Not a single one.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You see, son, sometimes a father who spends all his time carving statues likes to be the kind of hero his son can look up to.

[Lincoln Borglum]

So you made up the story about playing professional ball?

[Gutzon Borglum]

I? Yes. You're not disappointed?

[Lincoln Borglum]

I haven't been for about three years. Ever since I found out that the Yankees come from New York and not Iowa.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You little devil, you. Get out of here. Oh, no, no, never mind, never mind. We've got a brand new baseball to find.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Yes, sir.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Next you'll be telling me about the birds and the bees.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Dad, something fell out of your pocket.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Huh?

[Lincoln Borglum]

I got it. It's a telegram.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Oh, yes. I meant to read that. August 20, 1924. South Dakota.

[Lincoln Borglum]

That's a state, Dad.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I know it's a state, Lincoln. It's just that I don't get many telegrams from South Dakota.

[Lincoln Borglum]

There's a North Dakota, too.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Look for the ball. Dear Mr. Borglum, by way of brief introduction, I am historian for the state of South Dakota. Good for you. In my opinion, our Black Hills offer unique opportunity for heroic sculpture of unusual character. Would it be possible for you to design and supervise a massive sculpture there?

[Lincoln Borglum]

Are we going to South Dakota?

[Gutzon Borglum]

That ball cost me 75 cents. Find it. The proposal has not passed beyond the mere suggestion. But if it be possible for you to undertake the matter, I feel quite sure we could arrange to finance such an Enterprise. Yours, Doane Robinson, 23 Skidoo.

[Lincoln Borglum]

We're going. I can tell.

[Gutzon Borglum]

This could be the ball game, the pen in the series. Heroic sculpture. I've seen those hills, son. And this man Robinson is right. Now run and tell your mother to change your canning schedule and to start thinking about what to pack for South Dakota. You watch your step there, Lincoln.

[Lincoln Borglum]

I'm okay, dad.

[Doane Robinson]

You know, I'm not much of a geologist, Mr. Borgman, but they tell me most of these mountaintops are granite, good for scoping.

[Gutzon Borglum]

What's this area called, Mr. Robinson?

[Doane Robinson]

That's the Harley range. These sharp granite shafts are called the Needles.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Breathtaking. God's own sculpture.

[Doane Robinson]

Question is, Mr. Borglum, are you sculptor enough to compete with him?

[Lincoln Borglum]

He is, sir.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You're both talking blasphemy.

[Doane Robinson]

Perhaps compete was the wrong word. But we do need an artist big enough to handle this project.

[Gutzon Borglum]

As I recall, it was you who sent me the telegram.

[Lincoln Borglum]

My mom says Dad's a genius when it comes to the emotional value of volume.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Tell the man what that means, Lincoln.

[Lincoln Borglum]

He loves me.

[Doane Robinson]

I know what it means. Mr. Boardlam, I. I should point out it's not I who am concerned. Many important people, including Senator Norbeck, are concerned that you damage the beauty of these needles.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Robinson famous. I'm not Michelangelo. I'm not. Nor am I a man of destruction. These needles, they're like cathedrals. No, I wouldn't carve here, but there on the next range. Mount Rushmore, whatever you call it. We should look around there.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Dad, I'm getting cold here.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Stand close to me.

[Doane Robinson]

The weather in this altitude isn't entirely hospitable. You only be able to work from, say, spring to November, perhaps December.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I always felt the bear knew what he was Doing when he hibernated in the winter.

[Doane Robinson]

You know, I was thinking perhaps a great sculpting of an Indian.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Oh, don't be so provincial, Mr. Robinson. Granted, art in America should be American. Drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement. But an Indian isn't enough. This must depict the spirit, the ideals of our geographical expansion, our political development. Do you have a concept? Not yet, but. Well, we have to make surveys. We'll need around $10,000 to begin with. You think that me. Oh. Oh, we're not alone.

[Narrator]

What?

[Doane Robinson]

I don't believe it. Myra Jackson.

[Gutzon Borglum]

What's a Myra Jackson?

[Doane Robinson]

Our enemy. Wife of a local newspaper editor. She has everyone convinced that sculptors are butchers out to carve up these needles.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Oh. You look surprised, Mr. Robinson. Oh, well, to me, climbing these hills is like a preview of an ascent to heaven.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Save us, hero.

[Doane Robinson]

Good morning, Myra. May I present Mr. Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Mr. Borglum, I'm here representing those people of South Dakota who will not have you disturbing one of God's miracles.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Mrs. Jackson, it would seem that one of God's miracles already seems disturbed.

[Lincoln Borglum]

It's apparent, Mr. Borglum, you consider me some kind of an unnecessary irritant to your carving plans.

[Gutzon Borglum]

On the contrary, Mrs. Jackson, you're quite necessary. For without the likes of you, how could we ever gauge what a horrible example can be?

[Lincoln Borglum]

Mr. Robinson, is this the kind of dad.

[Doane Robinson]

The altitude, Myra. Mr. Borglum is unaccustomed to it.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Nonsense. I take to heights like an eagle or a vulture.

[Lincoln Borglum]

She talked you there.

[Doane Robinson]

Shut up.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Now we're all being a little premature or immature.

[Lincoln Borglum]

You're even now.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Shut up, I said.

[Lincoln Borglum]

My husband will fight this scheme all the way.

[Gutzon Borglum]

The power of the press dwindles in your awesome shadow. Mrs. Jackson, have you ever considered dieting?

[Lincoln Borglum]

I've heard quite enough. But I assure you, Mr. Boglin, you've heard nothing yet.

[Senator Norbeck]

Wow.

[Lincoln Borglum]

And I thought my teacher had that lip.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Lincoln, that's no way to talk about a lady.

[Lincoln Borglum]

But I thought you didn't like her.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I'm talking about your teacher.

[Doane Robinson]

Well, Mr. Borglum, you've met the first obstacle.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Yes, well, she's right to know. What about the needles? As I said before, we can't touch them. But that Rushmore, it looks ideal. Well, let's not tell her. I agree in principle. She might grow to like me. And that would be positively unbearable.

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[Gutzon Borglum]

Gutson. I just heard they passed it. Jesse, don't you realize I'm taking a bath? Of course. Sculpting's messy work. I relish privacy. I am naked. So are half of your statues. Gutzon. Did you hear that? I am flesh and blood. I'll get you a fig leaf. Gutzon. In the name of heaven, listen to me. They passed the bill. What bill?

[Senator Norbeck]

What bill?

[Gutzon Borglum]

What bill? He asked. Exactly. The bill. South Dakota. The Senator Norbeck who got Senator Williamson to introduce the bill in Congress so that giant statues could be carved in the Harney National Forest. They passed it. It became law yesterday, March 23, 1925. Then we've got the money. Well, not exactly. And we don't even know if it is we. My dear friend, since you have me trapped in this tub with my bare essentials, will you have the decency to unfurl the red tape you're hinting at? The measure calls for plans being submitted to the Commission on Fine Arts. No, I know what that commission would do with the ideas I have brewing. Next. The South Dakota state legislature. There'll be a problem because the bill calls for them to appropriate $10,000. What else? Well, Governor Gunderson is against it, so we're no closer than we were a year ago. Senator Norbeck thinks the state legislature might go for 5,000. Those parsimonious black hillbillies that chance. Well, the anti borglum bandwagon seems to be stretching halfway across the continent. Which reminds me. What do you mean, we don't even know if it's we? Well, the sculptor wasn't specified in the legislation, and Michelangelo thought he had problems. Maybe if you were more specific with your ideas and talked with Robinson or Norbeck, you could give them new ammunition, new inspiration. You may be right, Jesse. Let me think about it.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Dad, mom said the clean towels weren't dry yet. You have to use the one here.

[Gutzon Borglum]

No matter, Lincoln. I may just stay here. Go on a bathtub strike. Remain submerged until the right people realize our nation needs fewer flappers and more monuments.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Gutkin, I found a clean towel.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Well, don't just stand there, dear. Come on in. I think we've got enough. Now for a game of mahjong.

[Doane Robinson]

Well, I'm afraid we're fighting a losing battle, Borgman.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Right on one count, wrong on the other. We're fighting, yes, but a battle isn't lost until it's over.

[Doane Robinson]

You know, I can't decide whether you're stubborn or dedicated.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I'm both. Robinson, this is the mightiest nation in the world and we don't have a monument bigger than a snuff box. This American civilization is expanding, exploding. It demands an enlarged dimension, a whole new scale. Our monuments should announce to the whole world the character, the vitality, the dynamics of our philosophy. A monument's dimension should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated, not by the parochial leanings of some state legislators and a Myra Jackson.

[Doane Robinson]

Oh, which brings us to the events commemorated. When you called, you said you knew whom you wanted on Rushmore.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Yes. Four men. A memorial to the builders of this nation. Washington. Obviously, no one man contributed more to our independence than Jefferson. You see why, don't you? He's symbolic of our continental growth.

[Doane Robinson]

Yes. His purchase of the Louisiana Territory.

[Gutzon Borglum]

The kind of expansion that's made us big enough to defend our freedom.

[Doane Robinson]

Well, I can't imagine much argument there.

[Gutzon Borglum]

And will anyone argue with Lincoln? He preserved this union.

[Doane Robinson]

And the fourth, Theodore Roosevelt. Uh, oh, now that could give us problems.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Robinson. With the Panama Canal, he made us an ocean to ocean republic. He fought for the highest standards of political morality.

[Doane Robinson]

And Senator Norbeck suggested him because he approved of Roosevelt's trust busting activities. And Roosevelt once lived on a ranch in Dakota.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You're right. I mean, you're absolutely right. I would never have thought of Roosevelt if Norbeck hadn't suggested him. Mostly because I fell into the common trap of rooting out a monument to anyone who died so recently. But that's the kind of hogwash I heard as a kid in Iowa. Who says we have to wait a century before we can honor the memory of a great man? Who says we have to wait A decade, a year, a day.

[Doane Robinson]

No one who.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You have a way of stopping an argument before I can start one.

[Doane Robinson]

Oh, how can I argue with you when I feel I failed you?

[Gutzon Borglum]

Failed me?

[Doane Robinson]

Yes. I failed the artist. I proposed the idea, and I failed to come up with the money.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You've only been at it a year

[Doane Robinson]

and a half, and you're past 60.

[Gutzon Borglum]

At my age, Michelangelo had 30 years of carving left in him.

[Doane Robinson]

Yeah, well, I just pray that marble dust is the secret to longevity. Because even with these new incentives you've given me, I still see a delay of at least a year before we can get our financing.

[Gutzon Borglum]

It won't be a wasted year. I'm going to make some crude measurements at Rushmore and do some preliminary marbles.

[Doane Robinson]

Oh, and there's another thing. I happen to be older than you, and Norbeck's older than the bulb of us.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I'll send you each some marble dust. Oh, you. This is a celebration, Robinson. You seem so reflective.

[Doane Robinson]

Oh, I was recalling that night two years ago when we were driving along

[Gutzon Borglum]

together and you decided you had failed me.

[Doane Robinson]

Yeah, I sometimes think I steal that.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Are you forgetting the reason Senator Norbeck is giving this party?

[Doane Robinson]

Well, hardly. But getting the federal government to allot $250,000 is only half the battle.

[Gutzon Borglum]

A very impressive half, Robinson. I believe the saying is, that's good for openers. Openers like that. And I told with four aces.

[Doane Robinson]

You know, the mayor of one of our Black Hills towns felt certain that he'd raised $15,000 by last month.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Well, you know how much he got?

[Doane Robinson]

1,900.

[Senator Norbeck]

This is a party, gentlemen.

[Gutzon Borglum]

You're supposed to mingle.

[Doane Robinson]

It's a wonderful party, Senator. Oh, you know major Jesse Tucker, Mr. Baldwin's assistant and engineer.

[Senator Norbeck]

A pleasure, sir.

[Narrator]

How do you do?

[Senator Norbeck]

But if you think I'm going to stand here and talk about statues when some of the prettiest girls in the

[Gutzon Borglum]

Dakotas are here, as well as our wives have all found themselves dancing partners.

[Senator Norbeck]

Turnabout is fair play.

[Gutzon Borglum]

And now, that's a good quote. So long as women aren't involved.

[Senator Norbeck]

Well, since I can't persuade you, I might as well tell you the good news I received a few hours ago.

[Doane Robinson]

I will now go slowly, Senator. We're very unaccustomed to good news.

[Senator Norbeck]

Yes, President Coolidge has decided to spend the summer here in the Black Hills.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Well, that's marvelous.

[Senator Norbeck]

That is good news.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Why is he good with a chisel?

[Doane Robinson]

Well, as you know, Senator, Mr. Borglum has no patience with the politics of the problem.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Gutson don't you see? His presence here will focus the whole nation's attention to the Black Hills.

[Doane Robinson]

Inevitably, Mount Rushmore has to be publicized.

[Senator Norbeck]

You know, publicity. The secret behind fundraising, of course.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Of course. I personally offered to do a bust of him or strike a medal. It's just so blamed infuriating to realize what we have to go through to give dimension to a dream. You may have to go through a little more, Senator Normal.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Oh, what a perfectly charming party. Oh, I don't think I've ever met. Oh, you, Mrs. Jackson.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I retain the right to be me. Perhaps you can persuade your newspaper husband to go on a crusade against that.

[Lincoln Borglum]

It may not be necessary, in view of the fact that you have only half the budget your monstrous project requires.

[Senator Norbeck]

Some new guests have just arrived. If you'll excuse me.

[Doane Robinson]

May I propose that the hat should be buried?

[Gutzon Borglum]

And may I propose where we bury it? You never did go on that diet, Mrs. Jackson. I think my wife is calling me. Coming. Excuse me. Jesse never could stand the sight of blood.

[Lincoln Borglum]

I've been wondering, Mr. Borglim.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Glum.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Yes, I've been wondering. With only half the money, are we to have a Washington with only one eye, a Lincoln with one ear, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera?

[Gutzon Borglum]

Robinson, this is a frightful decade for prohibition to be the law of the land.

[Doane Robinson]

Perhaps, Mrs. Jackson, you haven't heard the good news.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Good news? What good news?

[Doane Robinson]

President Coolidge is summering here. And it's while he's honoring us with his presence that the first drilling on Mount Rushmore will begin. The four faces are virtually a reality.

[Lincoln Borglum]

I. I didn't know.

[Doane Robinson]

Yeah. You look pale, Mrs. Jackson. May I get you a punch?

[Gutzon Borglum]

I think she's just had one right in the solar plex.

[Doane Robinson]

Baldwin, a very happy New year to you. May 1928. See the beginning of both our dreams.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I'll drink to that. I think I can finish Washington before the year is out.

[Doane Robinson]

We still have a problem. The federal funds, while they were voted in, the funds themselves haven't been authorized.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Oh, no.

[Doane Robinson]

I'm sorry.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you members of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission to my humble Log Cabin studio. As you know, rather appropriately, it was on Washington's birthday, February 22, 1929, that funds were provided so I can carry on with the memorial. Now, I'd like to direct your attention to the picture window over here. Lincoln, would you draw back the blinds, please? As you can see, the face of Washington is beginning to emerge. Think, gentlemen, if you can. The faces the dimensions of a five story building carved on a mountain peak where clouds fold about them like a great scarf and the moon hides behind the lock of air. If I can discover these faces of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt within that mountain, they will, according to geologists, remain to tell the story of America for the next 5 million years. That I pray God, will be my legacy to America.

[Senator Norbeck]

This 4th of July, 1930, will not only be a memorable one for those of us here gathered to dedicate this first to the four faces on Mount Rushmore, George Washington, but the very soul of this moment will here linger to be sensed by the millions who in time will come to view this cultural wonder. The authority of the Congress to carve colossal portraits of these great men in the granite of the hills has created a perpetual shrine. Political democracy.

[Gutzon Borglum]

What about it?

[Senator Norbeck]

A promise to climbing down Washington.

[Gutzon Borglum]

My daughter.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Guston, it's New Year's Eve. You shouldn't be sitting there just staring out into the blackness.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Man, it's too cold to work. It's against the law to get drunk. And Lincoln is sparking with that girl.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Well, dear, he is 20 years old.

[Gutzon Borglum]

But did it have to be Myra Jackson's daughter?

[Lincoln Borglum]

Oh, things aren't all that bad. They've built a beautiful scenic road so that people can view the monument. Lincoln's working with you now and doing so well. The benefit concert that Mary Garden did in Rapid City has helped a lot in the financing.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Mary, this is 1932, or it will be in a few hours. Depression. That'll be the key word this year. Things were so bad last year, I had to put my own money in to keep things going. What do you think it's going to be like this year?

[Lincoln Borglum]

Slow, perhaps, but it will be done. I know it.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I just like to live to see it. Well, Lincoln, your eyes are better than mine. Fat. Yes, it's perfect. Here, dad, take the binoculars. All that waste because of one engineer who wouldn't listen to me. Jefferson's head could have been finished instead of just starting. Bigger charges, he said. Bigger charges and we can move faster. That pompous fool. He blew 20ft off of Jefferson's forehead the minute I turned my back. He had to prove his point. Can't these men on the dynamite understand, Lincoln? Once rock is blasted away, it's gone forever. From now on, no more chances.

[Doane Robinson]

Well, it seemed to me to go all right.

[Gutzon Borglum]

It's easy to destroy beauty. Robinson. Didn't expect to see you here today, Mr. Robinson.

[Doane Robinson]

Well, I come in my usual capacity.

[Gutzon Borglum]

We're out of money.

[Doane Robinson]

I once read the human animal was very adaptable. I think you'd be used to that by now, Borglum.

[Gutzon Borglum]

What's the matter with people? You'd think culture was a dirty word. Now, there must be enough blood in the national turnip to pay the workers we need here. Don't they realize that in the last 12 months alone, 150,000 people came to view this unfinished work?

[Doane Robinson]

Aren't you on something of a speaking basis with President Roosevelt? Why don't you go and talk to him?

[Gutzon Borglum]

And what do I say? How about you and Eleanor dipping into the household budget, Franklin? Oh, boy.

[Doane Robinson]

Doubt to him that this is not merely a South Dakota project, it's a national project.

[Gutzon Borglum]

That's true, dad.

[Doane Robinson]

Oh, and there's Alvin Barclay. He's a good friend of yours. Well, if you can get the President, Senator Barkley and a few more enthused about this, and with Norbeck's determination to see this thing through, I'm certain that we'll get another federal grant.

[Gutzon Borglum]

All right, I'll try. Good. But I'm not going after a grant that has to be matched with private funds because they just don't exist. Now, wait.

[Doane Robinson]

I think that's possible. There's always hope.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Lincoln, you want to make the trip with me? Well, I think I can do more good here. I know, I know. You wouldn't want to be that far away from the Jackson girl.

[Lincoln Borglum]

Her?

[Gutzon Borglum]

Well, we broke up months ago.

[Doane Robinson]

You.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Well, Robinson, you're right. There is always hope.

[Narrator]

Ladies and gentlemen, on this 30th day of August, 1936, we're broadcasting to you directly from the site of Mount Rushmore, where in just moments, the second of the four faces will be dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It's a setting of spectacular beauty. A 70 foot American flag is draped over the mountain, covering the now completed face of Thomas Jefferson. To one side is the Washington face, and to the other we can already recognize the Lincoln face, which will probably be dedicated in another year or two. We're situated 1500ft below the top of Mount Rushmore, about 100ft from where I'm broadcasting, the great sculptor of this monumental work, John Gutzon Borglum, is standing with his lovely daughter. She's holding a small American flag and yes, yes, now she's waving it toward the top of the mountain where Borglum's son and assistant, Lincoln Borglum, has been awaiting the signal. Any second now, he should.

[Gutzon Borglum]

There it is.

[Narrator]

There it is, and I'm sure you all heard it. Lincoln Borglum has set off one of the great blasts needed to start work on the Theodore Roosevelt base. And now there's a cloud of dust settling in the valley. And there it is. The huge flak is being swung away, and we can see the Jefferson face.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Well, it's been a long, hard pull. Just how long has it been now, Robinson?

[Doane Robinson]

Let me see. We dedicated the Lincoln head in September of 37, 38.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Rightly recall, I think it was 38.

[Doane Robinson]

And then Teddy Roosevelt. In what month Was that Lincoln?

[Narrator]

July 2, 1939.

[Doane Robinson]

That's about two years ago. I quit counting the years, and I reached my 80th birthday.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Now, don't you worry while I'm gone, Robinson. Lincoln knows as much about polishing the heads as I do. He'll put on the finishing touches before the year is out. We're still just a milk run. Better get you on that train, dad. Thank you for coming. I wonder. I wonder if that geologist was right, huh?

[Doane Robinson]

What geologist?

[Gutzon Borglum]

The one who said the memorial should last 5 million years. Come on, dad. Come on. Up you go. All right. I'm on. Give me my bags.

[Senator Norbeck]

Here you are.

[Gutzon Borglum]

Now, you mind what I taught you, son. Just you remember that my legacy you're polishing has to last 5 million years. A million years from now, who's going to care how long it took you to polish Teddy Roosevelt's mustache? So do it right, son. Do it right.

[Doane Robinson]

Well, now, the least he could have done was say goodbye.

[Gutzon Borglum]

I think he was afraid to.

[Doane Robinson]

You know something about this Chicago trip I don't.

[Gutzon Borglum]

It's for an operation. Oh, it's nothing major if he feels he'll never live through it. But the memorial will be finished, and it will be a monument to my father's greatness as well as to the greatness of our nation.

[Narrator]

Borglum's own words can best conclude this tribute. In 1940, when as many as 10,000 people in a day came to admire his story of the growth and expansion of our nation, he wrote, my dream has come true. There on the mountaintop, as near to heaven as we could make it, we have carved portraits of our leaders that posterity and civilization may see hundreds of thousands of years hence. What manner of men our leaders were. With a prayer and a belief that there among the clouds, they may stand forever, where wind and rain alone shall wear them away.

You have been listening to another portrait in an American gallery today. John Gutzon Borglum, sculptor. Starring Ed Begley as Gutzon Borglum. Featured in the cast were Kyle Johnson, Bill Boucher, Diana Hale, Jerry Hausner, Frederick Warlock and Steve Franken Sound by Gene Twombly the story was written by Robert M. Young. Produced and directed by William Lally Art Ballinger speaking this is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.

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