GBH Openvault

American Experience; Mount Rushmore

10/12/2001

Packaged, Season 14 Master


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Series
American Experience
Program
Mount Rushmore
Program Number

1404C1

Series Description

Premiered October 1988 As television's longest-running, most-watched history series, American Experience brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that helped form this nation. Now in its eighteenth season, the series has produced over 180 programs and garnered every major broadcast award. Series release date: 10/1988

Program Description

NOTE: Rebroadcast and repackaged for season 25 (2013), with new NOLA Code.

High on a granite cliff in South Dakota's Black Hills tower the huge carved faces of four American presidents. Together they constitute the world's largest sculpture. The massive tableau inspires awe and bemusement. How, and when, was it carved? Who possessed the audacity to create such a gargantuan work? The story of Mount Rushmore's creation is as bizarre and wonderful as the monument itself. It is the tale of a hyperactive, temperamental artist whose talent and determination propelled the project, even as his ego and obsession threatened to tear it apart. It is the story of hucksterism and hyperbole, of a massive public works project in the midst of an economic depression. And it is the story of dozens of ordinary Americans who suddenly found themselves suspended high on a cliff face with drills and hammers as a sculptor they considered insane directed them in the creation of what some would call a monstrosity and others a masterpiece. Narrated by Michael Murphy.

Duration

00:56:46

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Video

Genres
Documentary
Topics
History
Citation
Chicago: “American Experience; Mount Rushmore,” 10/12/2001, GBH Archives, accessed July 27, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_495127F989D1443F8CDD59CC564E4517.
MLA: “American Experience; Mount Rushmore.” 10/12/2001. GBH Archives. Web. July 27, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_495127F989D1443F8CDD59CC564E4517>.
APA: American Experience; Mount Rushmore. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_495127F989D1443F8CDD59CC564E4517
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