Korczak Ziółkowski
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Korczak Ziolkowski ( pl, Korczak Ziółkowski; September 6, 1908 – October 20, 1982) was the
Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...
designer and sculptor of the
Crazy Horse Memorial The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to hi ...
.


Early life

Ziolkowski was born September 6, 1908, in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
parents. Orphaned at the age of one when both his parents died in a boating accident, he grew up in a series of foster homes, and was raised by an Irish boxer. 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 Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, made in 1932, honored Judge Frederick Pickering Cabot, who had inspired him as a child growing up in the rough neighborhoods of Boston. Ziolkowski moved to
New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford. According to 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135. Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed wit ...
, to begin life as a professional artist. He began to sell commissioned sculptures throughout New England and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. In 1939, Ziolkowski was hired as a sculptor's assistant by
Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American 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 Mountain in Georg ...
on his
Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...
project. According to Lincoln Borglum, Gutzon's son, he was unhappy, having expected to be made the primary assistant. Instead, Lincoln was the primary assistant, and when Ziolkowski argued about his orders, Borglum fired him by telegram. A fistfight between Lincoln and Ziolkowski had to be broken up. His sculpture of
Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;  – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...
won first prize at the
1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
. The resulting fame, as well as his familiarity with the Black Hills, prompted several Lakota Chiefs, including a Lakota elder named Henry Standing Bear, to write to him about a monument honoring Crazy Horse. Chief
Henry Standing Bear Henry Standing Bear (c. 1874 – 1953) ("Matȟó Nážiŋ") was an Oglala Lakota Chief. A founding member of the Society of American Indians (1911–1923), he recruited and commissioned Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to build the ...
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." Ziolkowski 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 Ruth Miriam Ross (née Guscott; 1 January 1920 – 30 August 1982) was a New Zealand historian. She was part of the 1970s movement that sought to revise academic understandings of the Treaty of Waitangi and educate the public on its translat ...
, a young art enthusiast, who would later become his second wife. He put the project on hold when the United States entered
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He volunteered for service and joined the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
on May 17, 1943. He was wounded in 1944 at
Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...
in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. He was discharged as a sergeant on November 5, 1945. In 1947 Ziolkowski moved to the
Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
and began to search for a suitable mountain for his sculpture. He thought the Wyoming Tetons would be the best choice, where the rock would be better for carving, but the
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakota ...
wanted the memorial in the sacred
Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
on a -high mountain. The monument was expected to be the largest sculpture in the world. When completed, it would be high by long.
Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...
's head would be large enough to contain all the -high heads of the Presidents at
Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...
. On June 3, 1948, the first blast was made, and the memorial was dedicated to the Native American people. In 1950, Ziolkowski met Ruth Ross, 18 years his junior, who was a volunteer at the monument. She became Ziolkowski's second wife that year. Work continued slowly, since he refused to accept government grants. Instead, as he personally stated on a guest appearance on the TV show "To Tell the Truth", he raised money for the project by charging seventy-five cents admission to the monument work area.


Last years and death

Ziolkowski continued his work until he died of
acute pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas. Causes in order of frequency include: 1) a gallstone impacted in the common bile duct beyond the point where the pancreatic duct joins it; 2) heavy alcohol use; 3) systemic disease; ...
in 1982 at the age of 74 in Sturgis, SD. He was buried in an impressive tomb that he had built, with a huge steel plate on which he cut the following words, "Korczak; Storyteller in Stone; May His Remains; Be Left Unknown" at the base of the mountain. After his death, his widow,
Ruth Ziolkowski Ruth Carolyn Ziolkowski (née Ross; June 26, 1926 – May 21, 2014) was an American executive and CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial, a South Dakota monument dedicated to Crazy Horse which was designed by her late husband, Korczak Ziolkowski. Ruth ...
, took over the project as director of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. Ruth Ziolkowski died May 21, 2014, aged 87. All ten of their children and two of their grandchildren have continued the carving of the monument or are active in the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. The rocks that are blasted away are placed in a rock crusher and used for the roads at the complex. When completed, the memorial will be the focal point of a mas­sive university campus and cultural complex celebrating the Native Americans of North America.


See also

*
List of Polish Americans A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm (born 15 April 1949, in Łódź, Poland), is a Polish-born U.S.-based writer and academic. She obtained her Ph.D in Humanistic studies at the Warsaw University. Her works include historical biographies,Dr Christoph M ...
– his niece


Sources

* Ziółkowska-Boehm, Aleksandra, ''Nie tylko Ameryka'' (''Not Only America''), Warsaw, 1992; . * Ziółkowska-Boehm, A., ''The Roots Are Polish'', Toronto, 2004; * Ziółkowska-Boehm, A., ''Otwarta rana Ameryki'' (''America's Open Wound''), Bielsko Biala, 2007; * Ziółkowska-Boehm, A., ''Open Wounds: A Native American Heritage'', Nemsi Books, Pierpont, S.D., 2009; *
Thomas Powers Thomas Powers (born December 12, 1940 in New York City) is an American author and intelligence expert. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1971 together with Lucinda Franks for his articles on Weatherman member Diana Ough ...
, ''The Killing of Crazy Horse'', Alfred A.Knopf, 2010
''Korczak – Storyteller in Stone''
crazyhorsememorial.org


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziolkowski, Korczak 1908 births 1982 deaths Artists from Boston People from West Hartford, Connecticut People from Pennington County, South Dakota American people of Polish descent United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American sculptors American male sculptors Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni Deaths from pancreatitis Sculptors from Massachusetts United States Army soldiers Self-taught artists 20th-century American male artists