For more than 120 years, the Statue of Liberty has stood at the entrance to New York Harbor as a beacon of hope for people coming to the United States by ship. Although most people refer to it as the Statue of Liberty or Lady Liberty, the statue’s full name is Liberty Enlightening the World. The name recalls the statue’s original purpose: from 1886 to 1902, it served as a lighthouse for boats entering New York Harbor. Immigrants from many countries of the world—Ireland, Germany, France, and England, to name just a few—were welcomed to the land of opportunity by the light of Lady Liberty’s torch, which can be seen from almost forty kilometers away. One of the most recognizable symbols in the world, the Statue of Liberty has come to represent the principles on which the United States of America was founded: freedom and opportunity.
Lady Liberty stands 46 meters tall, on top of a pedestal that adds another 47 meters to her height. With the exception of the steel framework (which was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the man who built the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris), the entire monument is made of copper. It is located on Liberty Island, which lies in New York Harbor near the mouth of the Hudson River. Prior to the erection of the Statue of Liberty, the island was called Bedloe’s Island. It was officially renamed Liberty Island in 1956; nine years later the neighboring Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
Although it represents America and its values, the statue itself was not created there. It was designed and built in France as a gesture of international friendship and cooperation between the two countries. The French gave the statue to the United States as a gift to mark the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence.
The French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was hired to design the sculpture. He decided to fashion it after the Roman goddess Libertas, who represented liberty, to symbolize America’s commitment to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness outlined by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Bartholdi designed Lady Liberty so her left hand holds a tablet that reads, in Roman numerals, "July IV MDCCLXXVI," which is the date that the American colonies declared their independence from Britain. Bartholdi also placed broken shackles at the feet of the statue to represent freedom from tyranny and oppression. The seven spikes in the crown symbolize the world’s seven seas and seven continents.
While Bartholdi and the French were building the statue, it was up to Americans to erect the pedestal on which the "classical, yet severe and calm" statue would stand. The Americans were having difficulty raising money for the pedestal, so the newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer used the editorial section of his newspapers to publish articles criticizing people who were not contributing to the fund-raising efforts. This tactic worked, and by 1885 enough money had been raised to finance the pedestal’s construction.
Lady Liberty’s right arm, which holds the torch, was finished first and sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876, where it was displayed for the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The arm was later shipped to New York and exhibited in Madison Square until the rest of the monument was done. The French completed the rest of the statue in 1884, but since its pedestal was not yet ready, the 225-ton gift remained in France until 1885. It was then dismantled into 350 pieces, packed into 214 crates, and shipped to New York City. It took four months to completely reassemble the statue. When it was finished, U.S. president Grover Cleveland traveled to New York City to dedicate the monument on October 28, 1886.
The symbolism of the monument inspired poet Emma Lazarus to write a poem comparing the Statue of Liberty to the Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes, a huge statue of Helios, the Greek god of the sun and illumination, was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Lazarus’ lines will forever be associated with the Statue of Liberty in the minds of Americans:
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!
In 1903, her poem, "The New Colossus," was engraved on a plaque and mounted on the inner wall of the monument’s pedestal.
The statue was badly damaged in 1916 when a nearby munitions plant in New Jersey blew up in what has been called the Black Tom Explosion. The resulting damage to the torch was so extensive that this part had to be closed to visitors. Unfortunately the repairs were not done well, and the torch leaked when it rained or snowed; moisture then got into the rest of the monument, causing severe rusting and corrosion. The damage and neglect over the years meant that extensive renovations were needed before the statue’s 1986 centennial. During these renovations American and French workers together created a new torch made of copper and covered in gold leaf to replace the damaged glass and metal one.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Liberty Island was closed for three months. The Statue of Liberty, however, wasn’t reopened to the public for nearly three years. The crown was closed permanently because there is no way to quickly evacuate visitors in case of an emergency. Time-stamped tickets are required for those who want to enter the monument itself and experience the view from the tenth-floor pedestal observatory. Security measures for the Statue of Liberty have also been increased since the 9/11 tragedy. Visitors have to go through security screenings like those at U.S. airports before they board the ferry to either Ellis Island or Liberty Island.
Many have suggested that America’s values are changing for the worse. They cite the limited access to one of the nation’s most enduring symbols of tolerance as evidence. The monument and what it represents have faced many challenges over the years. Yet the Statue of Liberty continues to stand in New York Harbor, welcoming those who seek refuge in America and reminding the world of the values and principles on which America was built.