Volume 15 , Issue 24

1885 - Statue of Liberty Arrives

It was in 1885, the week of June 13th to 19th that the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor. A gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, the Statue of Liberty was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces packed in more than 300 cases. It was reassembled, dedicated the following year in a ceremony presided over by U.S. President Grover Cleveland, becoming known around the world as an "enduring symbol of freedom and democracy."



The Statue of Liberty was intended to commemorate the American Revolution and a century of friendship between the United States and France. It was designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (who modeled it after his own mother), with assistance from engineer Gustave Eiffel, who later developed the iconic tower in Paris bearing his name.

Did you know the Statue of Liberty was initially scheduled to be finished by 1876 for the 100th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence?

It seems the fundraising efforts, which included auctions, a lottery and boxing matches, took longer than anticipated, both in Europe and the United States, where the statue's pedestal was to be financed and constructed. The statue alone cost the French an estimated $250,))) (more than $5.5 million in today's money).

It was June 17, 1885 that the statue of the robed female figure with uplifted arm holding a torch, reached its new home on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor (between New York City and Hudson County, New Jersey). After it was reassembled, the 450,000 pound statue was officially dedicated on 28 October 1886, by President Cleveland, who said, "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."

Standing more than 305 feet from the foundation of its pedestal to the top of its torch, the statue was dubbed "Liberty Enlightening the World" by Bartholdi, and taller than any structure in New York city at that time. The statue was originally copper-colored, but over the years it underwent a natural color-change process called patination that produced its current greenish-blue hue.

It was in 1892 that Ellis Island, located near Bedloe's Island opened as America's chief immigration station, as lady Liberty stood watch over the more than 12 million immigrants sailed into New York Harbor. In 1903, a plaque inscribed with a sonnet titled "The New Colossus" by American poet Emma Lazarus, written 20 years earlier for a pedestal fundraiser, was placed on an interior wall of the pedestal. Lazarus' now famous words include, "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

It became symbolic of America's vision of itself as a land of opportunity for immigrants.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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