Mount Rushmore National Monument
Each face on Mt. Rushmore is rendered in a noble heroic style that suggests many sides to each presidents character. Washington is noble, proud, and fatherly. Roosevelt is both stern and playful looking. Jefferson's eyes are wistfully turned upward. Lincoln is sad- but determined. Of course- that may have just been the mood that they were in when I happened to be looking at them.
The monument was envisioned as the Pyramids of American civilization. There
were plans to include a documents vault inside of Lincolns's head that
would preserve the important works of western civilization, but it has
yet to be completed. The stated purpose of the monument, as recorded on
many of the plaques and inscription surrounding it, was to leave a record
for future generations of American achievements. One plaque records that
this was the first country to allow men to be free. The monuments location
in a remote region, rather than the center of a city, highlights its role
as a sort of a roadside historical marker for the whole continent that
states "Here freedom and democracy were achieved for the first time."
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All images © John Donohue, 1995,1996