A lifetime of Sunrise Services

By: 
Leslie Silveman
This is a seven-part series exploring the rich history of the Easter sunrise service at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, as the tradition will celebrate its 75th year on April 9.
 
In 1945, amidst the pain and agony of World War II, a tradition that would unite Black Hills communities, families and congregations began.
Doris Gould Tillman, in an interview conducted in 2015 by First Congregational Church of Keystone historian Eileen Roggenthen, recalls her Hill City Union Congregational Church Sunday school class thought their teacher, Miss Phyllis Gadstetter had such a magnificent voice it would be wonderful to hear it echo in the Hills.
As such, the children came up with an idea—to hold a sunrise Easter service on the backside of the newly erected Mount Rushmore National Memorial, completed just four years prior.
That initial service was located at Turtle Rock near Bishop Peak, behind the home of a man named Bob Benton. It is unclear where exactly that spot is located.
What is clear, however, is that initial service was cold. Despite the calendar indicating it was spring,  temperatures were frigid and there was snow on the ground. Tillman recalled seeing her breath when the choir sang. She also remembered the sun rose over Mount Rushmore Memorial, which made a big impression on her and the other children.
Two hundred people attended the inaugural Easter Sunrise Service, which was led by Rev. S.B. Welles. Likely most went afterward to the Hill City church for a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and rolls prepared by Ladies Aid.
The Hill City Easter Sunrise Service was not the only to be held that year. Rev. Carl H. Loocke,  pastor of the First Congregational Church of Keystone, held an outdoor service at sunrise on Easter morning as well. This one was located at Lock-Haven in Grizzly Gulch. The service attracted 52 people who knelt for a brief prayer service.
Both services claim to have been the first Mount Rushmore Easter Sunrise Service, despite both occurring the same year and both being off site of the memorial.
In 1946 the two congregations came together to unite in prayer Easter Sunday, April 21. The weather was beautiful and the Turtle Rock site behind the memorial was selected. Rev. Loocke and Rev. Virgil Selix, the new pastor in Hill City, both officiated.
In 1947, the service grew and moved officially to the Mount Rushmore Memorial site. 
Revs. Selix and Loocke made arrangements with the National Park Service to hold the Easter Sunrise Service in the administration building (known to many as the  original Sculptor’s Studio)
Days prior, volunteers brought a wood cross made of Aspen, a flag pole, an old organ and small altar to the memorial. Park rangers helped erect the cross and flag pole. The event was also publicized, with Rev. Selix noting  days prior to the service in the Hill City News “Some day, this sunrise service at the memorial may be a famous tradition.  Wouldn’t it be fine to have been a part of its inception.”
150 worshippers were present for the April 6 service, which saw very spring-like weather with cold, rain, sleet and even some snow. Tillman, who was by this time about to turn 15, remembered the children looking like drowned rats.
Rev. Loocke read scripture while Rev. Selix gave a short sermonette. 
The Custer Congregational Church joined the Hill City and Keystone churches.
The service also included a brief biographical account of each president carved into the granite making up the memorial. This may have been the inspiration to conclude the service with the song “God Bless America.” However the Hill City organist did not have the music for the song. 
Legend has it that piano teacher Dottie Bloom Allen came up with a solution, saying, “Lois can play that. She doesn’t need music. She can play that by heart.” 
And thus began the tradition most locals know so well, with Lois Pennel Halley concluding the Easter Sunrise Service for the first time with that patriotic song. Halley would continue to do so each year until 2018.
The March 28, 1948 Easter Service saw the addition of a new pastor as Rev. Henry H. DeNeui, a Baptist minister,  took over for Rev. Selix. DeNeui began churches all over the region, including in Rapid City, Rochford and Newcastle, Wyo. He is credited for helping grow the Easter Sunrise Service at Mount Rushmore by encouraging members of his other churches to attend, putting out press releases about the events and working with Rev. Loocke to print bulletins as promotional material.
Loocke arranged for pictures to be taken at the 1948 service, which helped preserve a visual record of the events for generations to come.
As the decade came to a close, the April 17, 1949 Easter Sunrise Service at Mount Rushmore was filmed by Movietone News and broadcast by KOTA radio. The trailer was shown at the Hill City Theater with some complaining the camera was too far away from the crowd to distinguish faces. Because of technological advances and lack of foresight of historical value it is unlikely that the clip or broadcast has been preserved.
Join us next week as we explore the Easter Sunrise Service through the 1950s. A special thanks to Roggenthen from the  First Congregational Church of Keystone for the historical preservation and collection of documents, pictures and stories.

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