Love Letters from Mount Rushmore: The Story of a Marriage, a Monument, and a Moment in History

The discovery of an old trunk leads to a story of love, opportunity, and yearning set during the carving of Mount Rushmore. From March to September of 1940, Arthur Cerasani, a sculptor and artist from Rochester, New York, worked on Mount Rushmore, while his family remained over fifteen hundred miles away. Over this vast distance, he and his wife, Mary, stayed connected through letters. Their daily correspondence reveals the trials of carving sixty-foot heads on a mountain top and highlights the strength of the human spirit. Despite isolation, spring blizzards, summer heat, and the unpredictable moods and fortunes of master sculptor Gutzon Borglum, Arthur Cerasani manages to connect with the carvers of the great monument and grow as an artist. In telling his father s experience, Richard Cerasani gives readers the tale of many workers on the mountain, some separated from family, all hoping for a future. Using letters and photographs, he shows the human side of the monumental struggle to create Mount Rushmore National Memorial.