 In September 1960, UCCA president Dobriansky assisted with establishing the Taras Shevchenko Memorial Committee of America, Inc. It was headed by Dobriansky, president of the General Council of Shevchenko societies Roman Smal-Stocky, and Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences in the U.S.A. president George Shevelov, with former U.S. President Harry S. Truman serving as an honorary head. Later that year a design competition was announced with one of the requirements being "the public at large to see the poet depicted in his youth." Seventeen sculpture designs were submitted and on July 14, 1962, the committee unanimously chose the one by Leonid Molozhanyn (Leo Mol), a Ukrainian Canadian who would go on to sculpt works in several countries depicting Shevchenko. Mol was paid $ 1,500 for winning the competition while two second place artists were each paid $ 1,000, and two third place artists paid $ 750 each. The total cost of the memorial was around $ 250,000, which was paid for by the UCCA and donations made by over 50,000 people, mostly Ukrainian-Americans. The design and layout of the memorial site was approved by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in April 1963. The site was designed by architect Radoslav Zuk and the contractor was the M. Cain Company. The stonework was provided by the Jones Brother Company while the carving was completed by Vincent Illuzzi.
