Norbeck-Williamson Act of 1929 or Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act of 1929 established the
Mount Rushmore
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a National Memorial (United States), national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dak ...
National Memorial Commission defining the powers and purpose of the twelve member committee. The
Act of Congress
An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...
authorized the Mount Harney Memorial Association of
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
to
stone carve models of
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
,
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
,
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
, and
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
in the
Harney National Forest encompassed by the
Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km2) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located ...
. The
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
sculpture was to be created in accordance with the
rock relief
A rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief, relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction ...
designs by
Gutzon Borglum
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculpture, sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Moun ...
.
In 1928, the 70th Congressional session members
Peter Norbeck and
William Williamson formulated the
code of law
A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the co ...
for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act. The Senate
bill was passed by the United States Congressional session and enacted into law by the
30th President of the United States Calvin Coolidge on February 29, 1929.
Clauses of the Act
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission Act was drafted as six sections describing the purposes of the
United States statute.
:Sec. 1 - Commission Composition and Creation
::Members allowance for expenses
::Compensation for secretary
:Sec. 2 - Organization
::Selection of treasurer
::Membership of executive committee
:Sec. 3 - Completion of Memorial
:Sec. 4 - Authority
::Mount Harney Memorial Association property rights
::Disbursement and receivables of funds
::Employment of artists and sculptors
::Other powers
:Sec. 5 - Federal Contribution Limitation
::Advance to treasurer of appropriated funds
::Condition of funds to treasurer
:Sec. 6 - Report to Congress
Amendments to 1929 Act
U.S. Congressional amendments to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission Act.
See also
Documentary Film Bibliography
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{{Portal bar, 1920s, Arts, Mountains, Visual Arts
1929 in American law
70th United States Congress
Mount Rushmore