Secrets of Mt. Rushmore: The Great Italian-American Master Sculptor, Luigi Del Bianco
Posted: May 28, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 Comment
Douglas Gladstone
Luigi Del Bianco in Gutzon Borglum’s studio at Mount Rushmore with the models for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Notice the torso and full dress on Washington; Borglum had originally planned to make Rushmore more than just the four faces, but lack of funding, skilled laborers and faulty rock precluded that. (Photo courtesy of Del Bianco Family Collection)
It’s a 1,727 mile drive from Italian Harlem, New York – between Pleasant Avenue to the east, First Avenue to the west, East 114th Street to the south and East 120th Street to the north — to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in Keystone, South Dakota. If you’re taking I-80 and I-90 westbound you can do the trip in just under 25 hours.
There’s no way to do the trip faster, just as to date, there hasn’t been a way to bridge the gap that exists between the United States Department…
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UPDATE on ITALIAN MASTER CARVER, LUIGI DEL BIANCO: MOUNT RUSHMORE FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED LUIGI DEL BIANCO!
Posted: May 28, 2016 Filed under: Architecture, But Not Forgotten!, Immigration history, Italian Americans, Italian Genealogy, NEW YORK ITALIANS 4 CommentsNEWSFLASH: THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HAS FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT LUIGI DEL BIANCO WAS, IN FACT, THE CHIEF CARVER OF MOUNT RUSHMORE!!!
Since this year marks the 75th anniversary of the completion of Mount Rushmore, the staff of the National Park Service has been posting short bios of the Mt. Rushmore workers, on their official Facebook page. Well, after 25 years, the National Park Service has finally acknowledged that Luigi Del Bianco was in fact the “Chief Carver!” Permanent recognition at the mountain is what we are really after, but this is a break through, and a start in the right direction!
Here’s Luigi Biography, as told by the National Park Service:
Artist Luigi Del Bianco came to work at Mount Rushmore at the request of Gutzon Borglum, the designer and engineer of the stone sculpture. Luigi Del Bianco worked for Mr. Borglum during the seasons of 1933, 1935, 1936 and 1940. He was a Senior Driller until the end of July in 1935 when Mr. Borglum designated him Chief Carver. Del Bianco was a trained stone carver originally from Italy who had worked for Mr. Borglum before the Mount Rushmore Project began. Mr. Del Bianco resided in Port Chester New York where he had a successful stone carving business. After his work on Mount Rushmore, he moved back east to resume his stone carving business.
WON’T YOU TAKE A SECOND TO CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LINK BELOW AND “LIKE” LUIGI’S PHOTO? Thank you!
Let’s let the NATIONAL PARK SERVICE know that LUIGI has a lot of fans all over the country!!
WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON OUR FINAL PUSH TO GET LUIGI RECOGNIZED AT MOUNT RUSHMORE. WE ARE ALMOST THERE! THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!
Title Photo: Street Corner on East 110th Street and 1st Avenue in East Harlem. Circa Mid 1930’s. Filmed in 1948. In the Street (1948). Directed and edited by Helen Levitt. Cinematography by renowned NYC Photographer, James Agee, Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb. Re-edited version re-released by Levitt in 1952 with music added.
Posted: May 17, 2016 Filed under: Angela's picture galleries, Video 2 Comments
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