Set in Stone

Each gaze at the famed Mount Rushmore tells a story.
For George Washington, his straight-ahead focus depicts him as the Revolutionary War hero who had to keep his troops' concentration on beating the Redcoats.
For Thomas Jefferson, his eyes show someone envisioning an America spread from sea to shining sea following the Louisiana Purchase.
For Theodore Roosevelt, his downward gaze brings his famous "Speak softly but carry a big stick" quote to life as he is all at once pensive yet steadfast.
And for Abraham Lincoln, his eyes are tender but full of concern-- knowing that one wrong move would allow the South to prevail and the union of the United States to collapse forever.
Although he never met these men personally, Luigi Del Bianco knew their stories and knew that the innermost humanity behind these giants of American history would be brought forward through their eyes.
In a 1966 interview with the Herald Statesman of Yonkers, N.Y., Del Bianco recalled when he carved Lincoln's eyes on Mount Rushmore.

"I could only see from this far what I was doing, but the eye of Lincoln had to look just right from many miles distant," he said "I know every line and ridge, each small bump and all the details of that head (Lincoln's) so well."

Luigi Del Bianco, an Italian immigrant from the town of Meduno, about 60 miles north of Trieste, was the principal carver of Mount Rushmore, but, as his grandson, Lou, pointed out, that information is not reaching a wider audience because of a bureaucratic tie-up he intends to fix.

"The National Park Service insists on recognizing him as one of the 400 workers, even though he was documented as a vital part of the project," he said. "We want the NPS to give him his rightful place in history."

Del Bianco's importance to the Mount Rushmore project was highlighted by none other than Gutzon Borglum, who was the monument's designer. Borglum hired Bianco to be the chief carver on Mount Rushmore in 1933, tasked with carving the "refinement of expression" or the facial detail. He was paid $1.50 per hour, considered a high wage for the Depression era.

"I would do it again, even knowing all the hardships involved," Del Bianco said in the 1966 Herald Statesman interview. "I would work at Mount Rushmore even without pay, if necessary. It was a great privilege granted me."

"Stone carving was my grandfather's life," said Lou Del Bianco. "He ate, slept and drank stone. He worked to put food on the table like so many hardworking Italians."

Lou Del Bianco has now made it his mission to get the National Park Service to formally recognize his nonno's contribution to the creation of Mount Rushmore. Through his website, www.luigimountrushmore.com, he hopes to finally set in stone his grandfather's place in American history. He also hopes that his grandfather's story can help start a deeper conversation about Italian-Americans' contribution to the patchwork quilt that makes up "America."

"The importance of family and the many contributions of Italian-Americans is something that needs to be talked about more," he said. "As an actor, singer and storyteller, I feel strongly that my nonno inspired me to follow my passion and go into the arts as a profession."

Lou Del Bianco also created a petition at MoveOn.org at this link. To date, it has more than 800 signatures. The current goal is 1000.

"My nonno was very proud to be Italian," he said. "He went back to Italy many times in his life to see family and friends. Even though he lived in the USA for 50 years, he always preferred opera to Sinatra and Michelangelo to Rockwell."