Construction of Mount Rushmore Construction of Mount Rushmore The construction of Mount Rushmore National Memorial took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941. Doane Robinson of the South Dakota Historical Society wanted a monument to be built in South Dakota in order to help the economy of the state by attracting tourism. In 1923, he proposed that this monument should be built from the granite cliffs in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Senator Peter Norbeck of South Dakota approved the proposal, and federal funding helped the project. Robinson asked architect and sculptor Gutzon Borglum to sculpt and design the monument. Borglum decided to use
Alexander Hamilton Stephens (sculpture) "His public career shows him time and again placing his loyalty to principles above subservience to political party; time and again refusing to follow where he thought principles were being set aside for party purposes." Alexander Hamilton Stephens (sculpture) Alexander H. Stephens is a marble sculpture commemorating the American politician of the same name by Gutzon Borglum, installed in the United States Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the state of Georgia in 1927. Stephens earned his place in the National Statuary Hall Collection by being elected to the US House of