Mount Rushmore dedication plaque
A MONUMENT'S DIMENSIONS SHOULD BE DETERMINED BY THE IMPORTANCE TO CIVILIZATION OF THE EVENTS COMMENORATED . . . . LET US PLACE THERE, CARVED HIGH, AS CLOSE TO HEAVEN AS WE CAN , . . . OUR LEADERS, THEIR FACES, TO SHOW POSTERITY WHAT MATTER OF MEN THEY WERE. THEN BREATHE A PRAYER THAT THESE RECORDS WILL ENDURE UNTIL THE WIND AND THE RAIN ALONE SHALL WEAR THEM AWAY. GUTZON BORLUM - 1930 THE UNION OF THESE FOUR PRESIDENTS CARVED ON THE FACE OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA WILL CONSTITUTE A DISTINCTLY NATIONAL MONUMENT. IT WILL BE DECIDEDLY AMERICAN IN ITS CONCEPTION, IN ITS MAGNITUDE, IN ITS MEANING AND ALTOGETHER WORTHY OF OUR COUNTRY. ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE - 1922 submitted by JEB John Bradley