MLK sculpture's China link a ‘sign of the times’ for New Hampshire granite

[Bluebear]

CONCORD — During the famous 1963 civil rights rally at the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of letting freedom ring from the “prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.”

Those prodigious hilltops are built on granite bedrock once used for the facades, steps and columns of many buildings and monuments in Washington, New York City and around the world. However, the granite for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial scheduled to be unveiled in our nation’s capital is not from New Hampshire — or Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, North Carolina or Idaho — it is from China, as is much of the granite for monuments today.

New Hampshire is known as the Granite State for a reason. A century ago, granite quarries dotted the state from Concord to Milford, and Troy to the Conway area. The Library of Congress was built with more than 30,000 tons of New Hampshire granite, according to the New Hampshire Folklife learning center...

On Friday, company Vice President Kevin Swenson said that although he wasn’t familiar with the details of the King memorial project, the fact the granite came from China was “a sign of the times.”

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110828/NEWS02/708289967

[Starry Messenger]

1. recommend

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[City of Mills]

3. That's really sad.

I love New Hampshire.

:kick:

[Skidmore]

4. In all of this nation we did not have one slab of granite that could

be dedicated to commemorating this great man?

[whopis01]

5. New Hampshire resisted naming a holiday for Martin Luther King jr longer than any other state

That wouldn't have been my first choice for a source for his monument.

[Tx4obama]

6. Ohhh, THAT is a good point! n/t

[cali]

7. How about Vermont? Vermont's granite industry was larger

and more esteemed for its craftsmanship than NH- and Barre the center of the industry has an interesting political history. Craftsman came from all over to work at Rock of Ages and other concerns in Barre, and brought with them their strong socialist politics.

From Wiki:

The Italian immigrants in particular brought a radical, largely anarchist labor movement to Barre. They were originally affiliated with the Socialist Labor Party before affiliating with the Industrial Workers of the World, and in 1916 and in 1929 the city elected a Socialist Party candidate as mayor of Barre. The old Socialist Labor Party Hall of the radicals is still standing, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

"Barre Gray" granite is sought after worldwide for its fine grain, even texture, and superior weather resistance. Many sculpture artists prefer it for outdoor sculpture.<5>

[Bluebear]

9. Yes, China had the MLK holiday much earlier.

I forgot.

By the way that was during the GOP hold on the state. NH is now blue if that helps.

[cali]

10. NH is not blue. Not even in the most generous estimate.

[bluestate10]

13. NH is bluer than it has ever been. It just pales next to all of it's

neighbors, except maybe Maine.

[cali]

14. It's not. It's less blue than it was in 2008-2009. Look at the 2010 elections.

Guinta and Bass have replaced Shea-Porter and Hodes. Ayotte was elected to the Senate. It's absurd to say that it's bluer than it's ever been.

[izquierdista]

12. Longer than AZ?

As I recall, Arizona was digging in their heels long after the rest of the country was celebrating it as a national holiday.

[Vinca]

8. That's really outrageous. Bad enough the sculptor was Chinese.

[Brickbat]

11. Shameful all around.

[Pooka Fey]

15. This is bullshit.