Korczak Ziolkowski
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Korczak Ziółkowski (born September 6, 1908, in Boston - died October 20, 1982, in Crazy Horse, South Dakota) was an American sculptor of Crazy Horse Memorial.
No one knows whether his family relates to the noble clan Korczak, as his given name suggests, but if so, his surname Ziółkowski was given this coat of arms in 1500, in Kraków, Poland.
Ziolkowski, a Polish American, was born exactly 34 years after the death of Crazy Horse on September 6, 1908, to Polish parents in Boston. Orphaned at the age of one, he grew up in a series of foster homes. Although he never received any formal art training, his gifts as a sculptor began to show at an early age. After putting himself through Rindge Technical School, he became an apprentice to a Boston ship maker. He began to carve wood and by the age of 20 had become an accomplished furniture maker. His first marble sculpture, made in 1932, honored Judge Frederick Pickering Cabot who had inspired him as a child growing up in the rough neighborhoods of Boston.
Ziołkowski moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, to begin life as a professional artist. he began to sell commissioned sculpture throughout New England, Boston, and New York. In 1939, he assisted Gutzon Borglum in the carving of the Mt. Rushmore Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota, near Keystone, South Dakota.
In 1939 his marble sculpture of Ignacy Jan Paderewski won first prize at the New York World’s Fair. The notarity as well as his familiarity with the Black Hills prompted several Lakota Chiefs to approach him about a monument honoring Native Americans. Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota wrote to him saying, “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too.”
Korczak met with the leaders shortly afterward and began planning a monument. Over the next few years, he conducted research and began planning the sculpture. He also met Ruth Ross, a young art enthusiast, who would later become his wife.
Korczak put the project on hold when the United States entered World War II. He volunteered for service in the United States Army and ended up being wounded in 1944 at Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.
In 1947 Ziołkowski moved to the Black Hills, and began to search for a suitable mountain for his sculpture. Korczak thought the Wyoming Tetons would be the best choice, where the rock would be better for carving, but the Lakota wanted the memorial in the sacred Black Hills on a 600-foot high mountain. This monument was to be the largest sculpture in the world. When completed, it would be 563 feet high by 641 feet long. Crazy Horse’s head would be large enough to contain all the 60 foot high heads of the Presidents at Mount Rushmore.
On June 3, 1948, the first blast was made and the memorial was dedicated to the Native American people. In 1950 Korczak and Ruth Ross, who had become a volunteer at the monument, were married. Work continued slowly since he refused to accept government grants. He raised money for the project by charging admission to the monument work area.
Korczak continued his work until he died of a heart attack at the monument site in 1982. He was buried in a tomb at the base of the mountain. After his death, his wife Ruth took over the project as director of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. Seven of his ten children have continued the carving of the monument or are active in the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.
[edit] Sources
- Aleksandra Ziółkowska, Nie tylko Ameryka (Not Only America), Warszawa (Warsaw) 1992
- Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, The Roots Are Polish, Toronto 2004
