Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty Large, copper statue of a woman, standing on Liberty Island, New York City harbour. A symbol of US democracy, it was a gift from France, and was built (1876) to commemorate the centenary of US independence. It was designed by Bartholdi on an iron framework designed and built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue's official name is Liberty Enlightening the World. It stands 45m (150ft) tall to the top of the torch in the goddess's raised right hand.

Statue of Liberty statue on Liberty Island in Upper New York Bay, commanding the entrance to New York City. Liberty Island, c.10 acres (4 hectares), formerly Bedloe's Island (renamed in 1956), was the former site of a quarantine station and harbor fortifications. The statue, originally known as Liberty Enlightening the World, was proposed by the French historian Édouard Laboulaye in 1865 to commemorate the alliance of France with the American colonies during the American Revolution and, according to scholars, was originally intended as an antimonarchy and antislavery symbol. Funds were raised by the Franco-American Union (est. 1875), and the statue was designed by the French sculptor F. A. Bartholdi in the form of a woman with an uplifted arm holding a torch. Believed to be the tallest metal statue ever made, 152 ft (46 m) in height, it was constructed of copper sheets, using Bartholdi's 9-ft (2.7-m) model. It was shipped to New York City in 1885, assembled, and dedicated in 1886.

The base of the statue is an 11-pointed star, part of old Fort Wood; a 150-ft (45-m) pedestal, built through American funding, is made of concrete faced with granite. On it is a tablet, affixed in 1903, inscribed with "The New Colossus," the famous sonnet of Emma Lazarus, welcoming immigrants to the United States. By the early 20th cent, this greeting to the arriving stranger had become the statue's primary symbolic message. Broadening in its meaning, the statue became a symbol of America during World War I and a ubiquitous democratic symbol during World War II. An elevator runs to the top of the pedestal, and steps within the statue lead to the crown, but the public has not been permitted to climb to crown since Sept., 2001, when access to the statue was restricted for reasons of security and, subsequently, safety. The statue was extensively refurbished prior to its centennial celebration in 1986. The Statue of Liberty became a national monument in 1924. In 1965, Ellis Island , the entrance point of millions of immigrants to the United States, was added to the monument.

Bibliography: See M. Trachtenberg, The Statue of Liberty (1976); W. S. Dillon, ed., The Statue of Liberty Revisited: Making a Universal Symbol (1994); B. Moreno, The Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia (2000).

Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty National Monument is situated on Bedloe's (now Liberty) Island in New York harbor. The 151‐foot statue (entitled Liberty Enlightening the World) of a robed female figure bearing an uplifted torch was designed by the Frenchman Frédéric‐Auguste Bartholdi; completed in Paris in 1885 with the aid of Alexandre‐Gustave Eiffel, who designed the inner skeleton; and officially presented to the United States by the French government. The huge structure reached New York City in June 1885, but the base was not ready. A grassroots fundraising campaign suggested by Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, quickly raised $100,000—much of it in pennies, nickels, and dimes from schoolchildren, laborers, and others—and the pedestal was completed in April 1886. On 28 October of that year, officially designated as “Bartholdi Day,” President Grover Cleveland, Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, members of the Franco‐American Union, and thousands of onlookers, many aboard ships and small craft, gathered for the festive dedication ceremony marked by bands, parades, and cannon salutes. A major restoration in 1984 was followed by a formal rededication precisely a century later, 28 October 1986. The Statute of Liberty was closed to visitors after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, for nearly three years.

Over the years, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants, visitors, and returning troops from two world wars; it remains perhaps the nation's most instantly recognizable symbol. Nearly as well known is the sonnet by Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) inscribed on the pedestal in 1903:Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest‐tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Bibliography

Oscar Handlin , Statue of Liberty, 1971.
I.B. Penick , The Story of the Statue of Liberty, 1986.

Leo Hershkowitz

Paul S. Boyer