When
someone says “Lady Liberty,” they usually know that reference is
made to the Statue of Liberty that raises a torch high above the
harbor at Ellis Island in New York at a location now named Liberty
Island.
June
19, 2016 marks the 131st anniversary of the statue’s
arrival in New York Harbor from France, for it was on that date in
1885 that the 214 crates bearing the disassembled giant statute
created by French sculptor Frederic August Bartholdi were unloaded
from the French frigate “Isere.”
The
Statue of Liberty was a joint effort between the United States and
the French governments. The idea came about soon after the end of
the U. S. Civil War in 1865. The French government proposed making
the statue if the United States government would build the base and
pedestal. The total effort was to be a commemoration of the
friendship between the two countries that had existed since before
America won her freedom from Great Britain following the American
Revolution. The proposal coming so soon after cessation of the Civil
War was France’s congratulations that this country would make
amends and reestablished a United States.
Raising
funds for such a massive project was not easy either in America or
France. Money was raised in the United States for the giant base and
pedestal by various benefits like theatrical performances, art
exhibitions, auctions, and prizefights. Joseph Pulitzer used the
editorial pages of his paper, “The World,” to criticize the rich
for not donating to such a worthwhile cause and to challenge all to
give for the pedestal’s erection. Monies came in and the pedestal
was finished in April, 1886. In France, money had been raised
through a lottery, public fees, and various forms of entertainment.
To
help sculptor Bartholdi with the work, the designer of the famed
Eiffel Tower in Paris, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, was enlisted to
create the skeleton of the monument. Sculptor Bartholdi designed the
“skin” to go over the skeleton, made of copper and fashioned in
such a way that the skin would actually “give” (or expand and
contract), a condition needed for the statue’s preservation in the
strong winds of New York Harbor.
Although
the crates containing the statue materials arrived on July 19, 1885,
it actually took four months of intensive work to assemble both the
pedestal accoutrements and the statue and its framework packed in 214
crates. On October 28, 1886, the magnificent lady was completely
reassembled, ready for presentation, and a dedication service was led
by President Grover Cleveland with thousands watching the impressive
rites.
Lady
Liberty, looming aloft in New York Harbor, has been the inspiration
and symbol of hope for millions of immigrants seeking freedom and a
new way of life in America. In 1883, before the concept of a statue
and a freedom monument was agreed upon by France and America, Emma
Lazarus wrote a poem as a part of a fund-raising contest. Entitled
“The New Colossus,” words of the sonnet were selected to grace
the entrance area to the pedestal. The words have inspired visitors
to the monument since 1886. The most quoted lines of the poem are
“Give
me your tired, your poor,
Your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The
wretched refuge of your teeming shore;
Send
these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.
I
lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Several
renovations and improvements to the Statue have been made during the
years, the most extensive in 1986, the 100th anniversary
of its dedication. At times it has been closed as repairs and
improvements have been made . Bedloe’s Island was renamed Liberty
Island in 1965. In 1965, more than a decade after it was closed as a
federal immigration station, Ellis Island became a part of the Statue
of Liberty National Monument.
Today,
the Statue of Liberty is termed to be the most recognized symbol of
freedom anywhere in the world, and the world’s most outstanding
landmark.
(Published
in “The News Observer, Blue Ridge, GA. June 8, 2016. ©2016 by
Ethelene Dyer Jones. All rights reserved.)
