Statue of Liberty

While attending a dinner party in France in 1865, French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904) and his host, French scholar Édouard-René Lefebvre de Laboulaye (1811–1883), came up with an idea to give the United States a monument to commemorate the country's first centennial (one hundred years) as a free nation.

Construction of the monument began in 1875, and in 1877, America began fundraising efforts to collect the money needed to build a pedestal (foundation) on which a 450,000-pound (204,300-kilogram) copper and steel statue would stand. American architect Richard Morris Hunt (1828–1885) was hired to design and build the pedestal. The cement foundation weighed 27,000 tons (24,489 metric tons).

Lady Liberty debuts

Building of the statue was completed in Paris, France, in June 1884, but the pedestal was still a work in progress. Early in 1885, with the completion of the pedestal, “Liberty Enlightening the World” was dismantled and shipped to America in 350 pieces. The statue, which became known as Lady Liberty, arrived on Liberty Island in New York and was placed on Ellis Island , the primary immigration port for European immigrants . The pedestal and statue were assembled in 1886, ten years after the original target date. On October 28 of that year, President Grover Cleveland (1837–1908; served 1885–89 and 1893–97) accepted the Statue of Liberty and dedicated her in an official ceremony.

Jewish poet Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) composed a sonnet (a fourteen-line lyric poem, written using a distinct rhythm and rhyme) to be awarded to the highest bidder at an art auction. The poem, called “The New Colossus,” reflected Lazarus's understanding of the role America played in the hopes of immigrants (people who move permanently to another country) in the late nineteenth century. Written in 1883, “The New Colossus” was engraved on a plaque and attached to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

Fun facts about Lady Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was a statue of impressive size in its day and remains so in the twenty-first century. She measures 111 feet, 1 inch (33.86 meters) from her heel to the top of her head. On her crown are seven spikes, representative of the seven continents or seven seas.

At a windspeed of 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) per hour, the statue sways up to 3 inches (7.62 centimeters), while her torch sways 5 inches (12.7 centimeters).

The tablet in the statue's left hand is inscribed with the date July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals. This is the day America declared its independence from Britain.

Emma Lazarus's Poetry

Long before she penned “The New Colossus,” Lazarus was writing poetry. In 1868, she sent a copy of her first book of poetry (which her father had published) to Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), one of the country's most famous essayists, poets, and philosophers. The two began a lifelong friendship. Lazarus visited Emerson at his home in Concord, Massachusetts , several times.

Lazarus's second book of poems was published in 1871 to much critical praise. Throughout the decade, she published many poems and essays in popular magazines. By 1882, more than fifty of her poems and translations of others' poems had been printed in these periodicals. Her best reviews came in 1881, upon publication of her translation of the works of German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine (1797–1856). Lazarus identified with Heine's expression of his Jewish identity. Both writers felt the effect of their Jewish backgrounds on their pursuit of artistic creativity.

The Statue of Liberty was declared a national monument in 1924.