Letters That Stay

In Newport, Rhode Island, one shop has been cutting letters into stone since 1705.

Nicholas Benson began his apprenticeship there at fifteen, beside his father. He studied calligraphy in Switzerland, and won a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010. Today he runs the shop, and still carves.

First, a brush. He outlines each letter on the stone.

Then, the chisel. He cuts it by hand, not by machine.

His lettering is on the National World War II Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, both in Washington. Gravestones are part of the work too.

Somebody still has to cut the name.