Know The History Of Memorial Carving In Atlanta Ga

By Author: AKM
Total Articles: 689
Comment this article

Atlanta, Georgia is one of the treasures for Georgia state historic sites. If you are a traveller to this place, you must know about its greatest historic sites for sure before exploring them. Today we will let you know about the Memorial Carving.

The Confederate Memorial Carving, the world's largest high relief sculpture, depicts three Confederate Civil War figures, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The entire carved surface covers three acres, which is larger than a football field and Mount Rushmore combined. The three men carving towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The carving's deepest point is at Lee's elbow, which is 12 feet below the mountain's surface.

Mrs. C. Helen Plane, a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), imagined the carving in 1912. The Venable family, who owned the mountain, deeded the north face to the UDC in 1916. The UDC was given 12 years to build a substantial Civil War monument.

During its creation, the carving was worked on by three sculptors. ...
... Gutzon Borglum was hired as the carving consultant in 1915, and the Stone Mountain Monumental Association appointed him carving sculptor in 1916. Borglum imagined a carving with seven central figures and "an army of thousands." Due to funding issues and World War I, he was unable to begin work on the carving until 1923.

Borglum was able to complete Lee's head on January 19, 1924, after blasting away large portions of the mountain with dynamite. A disagreement arose between Borglum and the managing association in 1925. Borglum left as a result of the conflict, taking all of his sketches and models with him. Borglum went on to carve South Dakota's famous Mount Rushmore.

The second sculptor, Augustus Lukeman, returned to the project in 1925. Lukeman's carving depicted the Confederacy's three central figures on horseback. He removed Borglum's work from the mountain and worked tirelessly with pneumatic drills, but by 1928 (the original deadline), only Lee's head had been completed, and funds had run out. The Venables reclaimed their land, and the massive granite mountain remained untouched for the next 36 years.

The mountain and surrounding land were purchased by the state of Georgia in 1958. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association was established by the Georgia General Assembly. Six internationally renowned artists served on the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Advisory Committee in 1960. A competition was held, and nine sculptors from around the world submitted designs for a new sculpture.

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association chose Walker Kirkland Hancock of Gloucester, Massachusetts to complete the carving in 1963, based on the Advisory Committee's recommendations. In 1964, work resumed, and a new technique involving thermo-jet torches was used to carve away the granite. Roy Faulkner, chief carver and marine veteran, was able to remove tons of stone in one day using the new thermo-jet torch. For over eight years, visitors to the park could see and hear the workers and their jet torches.

The figures were finished with the attention to detail of a fine painting. A small thermo-jet torch was used to fine-carve brows, fingers, buckles, and even hair strands.

The carving is much larger than it appears from the attractions at Stone Mountain Park. Workers could easily escape a sudden rain shower by standing on a horse's ear or inside a horse's mouth. On May 9, 1970, a dedication ceremony for the Confederate Memorial Carving was held. In 1972, the finishing touches were added.

I love to write.