United States Representative Patrick “Pat” Tiberi (Republican – 12th Congressional District) of Ohio believes the late Luigi Del Bianco “should be formally recognized” for having served as chief carver of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
In “Carving a Niche for Himself; The Untold Story of Luigi Del Bianco and Mount Rushmore,” author Douglas J. Gladstone’s valentine to the obscure Italian American immigrant who served as chief carver at the monument from 1933 through 1940, Tiberi says that Del Bianco’s story is “an inspiration to many.
“From growing up in Italy to raising a family in the United States, his immigration story reverberates through generations of Americans,” continues Tiberi. “Luigi left his mark on some of the most recognizable monuments in the nation, most notably bringing Lincoln’s eyes to life on the faces of Mount Rushmore.”
The co-chairman of the Italian American Congressional Delegation, Tiberi is a member of the House Ways & Means Committee who was first elected in November 2000. He is the proud son of Italian immigrants himself — his mother was a seamstress and his father a machinist. Many of his family still reside in Introdacqua, a town in the L’Aquila Province in the region of Abruzzo in Central Italy.
The Italian ambassador to the United States, Claudio Bisogniero, conferred the title of Knight of the Order of Merit on Representative Tiberi in May 2013.
Though Rushmore sculptor and designer Gutzon Borglum’s own correspondence in the Library of Congress clearly indicates that Luigi Del Bianco was the glue that held the project together, Del Bianco for some inexplicable reason has never received the credit in scholarly publications or documentaries on the creation of the memorial that many individuals believe he is deserving of.
The book takes the National Park Service to task for its failure to recognize Del Bianco, despite the agency’s long-standing commitment to practicing multiculturalism and pluralism. The Park Service’s Midwestern Regional office is located in Omaha, Nebraska; Michael Reynolds is the Regional Director.
A native of Meduno, in the Italian Province of Pordenone, Del Bianco died of accelerated silicosis that was brought on, in part, by his years of not wearing a mask while working at the monument.
Published by Bordighera Press, “Carving A Niche for Himself” was released on Tuesday, April 15. To order it, residents of Ohio can call Small Press Distribution at 800-869-7553.