What was Gutzon Borglum's original idea for the Stone Mountain Memorial sculpture?

     An example of Borglum's major work included a bust of Abraham Lincoln, which he was able to exhibit in Theodore Roosevelt's White House. The Lincoln portrait and other     much admired works gave Borglum a national reputation.  In 1915 was invited by                Helen Plane, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to carve a bust of

General Robert E. Lee onto the side of Stone Mountain in Georgia.

     Borglum's conception was bigger than Plane's, and Stone Mountain became his first mountain carving project, At Stone Mountain, Gutzon developed some of the techniques that would later be used on his later Mt. Rushmore project.

     Stone Mountain is the largest exposed granite face in the world, and is fifteen miles east of Atlanta, Georgia.  Borglum refused the job offer at first, because he thought such a project would be ridiculously out of scale. He instead suggested a larger sculptural group that would include Lee with a column of Confederate soldiers. Mrs. Plane was convinced, as was Samuel Venable, the owner of the mountain, that Borglum had the best idea. 

     After financing became difficult, Borglum attempted to raise funds, but failed.  The project was scrapped and Borglum was sued in Georgia.  He fled the state, and would quickly go to work on the Mt. Rushmore sculptures .

     In 1958, the State of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain. The area around the monument was landscaped for recreation and the grand Confederate Memorial.                                                                                                                                           Walker Kirtland Hancock  was retained in 1963 to oversee completion of the artwork. The carving was completed by 1972.