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Liberty Enlightening the World (La Liberté Éclairant Le Monde), known more commonly as the Statue of Liberty, is a statue given to the United States by France in 1885, standing at Liberty Island in the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans. The copper statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the United States and is a gesture of friendship between the two nations. The sculptor was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the Eiffel Tower, engineered the internal structure. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue's construction and adoption of the Repoussé technique. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the U.S. worldwide,^[1] and, in a more general sense, represents liberty and escape from oppression. The Statue of Liberty was, from 1886 until the Jet age, often the first glimpse of the United States for millions of immigrants after ocean voyages from Europe. In terms of visual impact, the Statue of Liberty appears to draw inspiration from il Sancarlone or the Colossus of Rhodes.

Description

The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island in New York harbor, about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) southwest of the southern tip of Manhattan. The island was officially called "Bedloe's Island" until it was renamed in 1956, but was popularly called "Liberty Island" as early as 1911; ^[2] The Decatur Daily Republican in an article October 29, 1886 describing the unveiling of the statue a day earlier mentions a naval parade in the waters off New York: "The vessels presented a beautiful sight as they steamed down the Hudson. On reaching Liberty Island, they passed astern of the man-of-war anchored below the island then up between them and the island, till they came abreast of the statue head on tide, where they remained at anchor until the end of the ceremonies at that point". O. Henry refers to it by that name in a 1911 story.^[3]

Liberty holds a torch in her right hand and a tablet in her left. The tablet shows the inscription JULY IV MDCCLXXVI—July 4, 1776, the date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

One of her feet stands on chains, symbolizing the acquired freedom. The USIA states that the seven spikes in the crown represent the seven seas and seven continents.^[4]

The height from ground to the top of the torch is 305 feet (93 m); this includes the foundation and the pedestal. The height of the statue itself, from the top of the base to the torch, is 151 feet (46 m). The statue weighs 204 tons and the pedestal weighs 24,500 tons.^[5]^[6]

The statue was built from thin copper plates hammered into wooden forms through a process known as repoussé.^[7]^[8] The formed plates were then mounted onto a steel skeleton. The pedestal is built from stone and Rosendale natural cement.

A museum on the second floor of the pedestal, presents the history of the statue.^[9] Inside the statue, a spiral stairway with rest seats at every third turn winds up to the observation deck in the crown. Before 1916, the ladder in the right arm holding the torch was open to the public, but it has for many years been restricted to staff use, for maintaining the lighting equipment in the torch. The interior of the statue has been closed to the public since 2001 (see below).

The poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus was engraved on a bronze plaque in 1903, after Lazarus' death, and 20 years after it was written. The plaque is located on a wall of the museum, which is in the base of the statue. (It has never been engraved on the monument itself, despite such depictions in editorial cartoons^[10]).

Liberty Island is closer to New Jersey than to New York, and its physical location is within the borders of Hudson County, New Jersey. However, Liberty Island has been part of New York since the 1664 issuance of the colonial charter that created New Jersey (charter text). Portions of nearby Ellis Island that were formed by subsequent landfilling are, under a Supreme Court decision, part of New Jersey, but that decision had no effect on Liberty Island. The island is owned by the federal government and is administered by the National Park Service. (For additional details, see Liberty Island).

History

Discussions in France over a suitable gift to the United States to mark the Centennial of the American Declaration of Independence was headed by the politician and sympathetic writer of the history of the United States, Édouard René Lefèvre de Laboulaye. French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture with the year 1876 in mind for completion. The idea for the commemorative gift then grew out of the political turmoil which was shaking France at the time. The French Third Republic was still considered as a "temporary" arrangement by many, who wished a return to Monarchism, or to some form of constitutional authoritarianism which they had known under Napoleon. The idea of giving a colossal representation of republican virtues to a "sister" republic across the sea served as a focus for the republican cause against other politicians.

Various sources cite different models for the face of the statue. One indicated the then-recently widowed Isabella Eugenie Boyer, the wife of Isaac Singer, the sewing-machine industrialist. "She was rid of the uncouth presence of her husband, who had left her with only his most socially desirable attributes: his fortune and... his children. She was, from the beginning of her career in Paris, a well-known figure. As the good-looking French widow of an American industrialist she was called upon to be Bartholdi's model for the Statue of Liberty." ^[11] Another source believed that the "stern face" belonged to Bartholdi's mother, Charlotte Bartholdi (1801-1891), with whom he was very close. ^[12] National Geographic magazine also pointed to his mother, noting that Bartholdi never denied nor explained the resemblance. ^[13] The first model, on a small scale, was built in 1870. This first statue is now in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.

While in a visit to Egypt that was to shift his artistic perspective from simply grand to colossal, Bartholdi was inspired by the project of Suez Canal which was being undertakedn by Count Ferdinand-Marie de Lesseps who later became a life-long friend to him. He envisioned a giant lighthouse standing at the entrance to Suez Canal and drew plans for it. It would be patterned after the Roman goddess Libertas, modified to resemble a robed Egyptian peasant, a fallaha, with light beaming out from both a headband and a torch thrust dramatically upward into the skies. Bartholdi presented his plans to the Egyptian Khediev, Isma'il Pasha, in 1867 and, with revisions, again in 1869, but the project was never commissioned.^[14], ^[15]

It was agreed upon that in a joint effort the American people were to build the base, and the French people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly in the United States. However, lack of funds was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic. In France, public fees, various forms of entertainment, and a lottery were among the methods used to raise the 2,250,000 francs. In the United States, benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights assisted in providing needed funds. Meanwhile in France, Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer to address structural issues associated with designing such a colossal copper sculpture. Gustave Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower) was commissioned to design the massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework which allows the Statue's copper skin to move independently yet stand upright. Eiffel delegated the detailed work to his trusted structural engineer, Maurice Koechlin.

On June 30, 1878, at the Paris Exposition, the completed head of the statue was showcased in the garden of the Trocadéro palace, while other pieces were on display in the Champs de Mars.

Back in America, the site, authorized in New York Harbor by Act of Congress, 1877, was selected by General William Tecumseh Sherman, who settled on Bartholdi's own choice, then known as Bedloe's Island, where there was already an early 19th century star-shaped fortification.

On February 18, 1879, Bartholdi was granted a design patent, U.S. Patent D11023, on "a statue representing Liberty enlightening the world, the same consisting, essentially, of the draped female figure, with one arm upraised, bearing a torch, and while the other holds an inscribed tablet, and having upon the head a diadem, substantially as set forth." The patent described the head as having "classical, yet severe and calm, features," noted that the body is "thrown slightly over to the left so as to gravitate upon the left leg, the whole figure thus being in equilibrium," and covered representations in "any manner known to the glyptic art in the form of a statue or statuette, or in alto-relievo or bass-relief, in metal, stone, terra-cotta, plaster-of-paris, or other plastic composition."^[16]

Fundraising for the pedestal, led by William M. Evarts, was going slowly, so Joseph Pulitzer (who established the Pulitzer Prize) opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, The World, to support the fund raising effort. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize both the rich, who had failed to finance the pedestal construction, and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds^{citation needed]}. Pulitzer's campaign of harsh criticism was successful in motivating the people of America to donate. (It also promoted his newspaper, which purportedly added ~50,000 subscribers in the course of the statue campaign effort.)

Financing for the pedestal, designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt, was completed in August 1885. The cornerstone was laid on August 5, and pedestal construction was finished on April 22, 1886. When the last stone of the pedestal was swung into place the masons reached into their pockets and showered into the mortar a collection of silver coins.

Built into the pedestal's massive masonry are two sets of four iron girders, connected by iron tie beams that are carried up to become part of Eiffel's framework for the statue itself. Thus Liberty is integral with her pedestal.

The Statue was completed in France in July, 1884 and arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885 on board the French frigate Isere. To prepare for transit, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. (The right arm and the torch, which were completed earlier, had been exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1876, and thereafter at Madison Square in New York City.) The Statue was re-assembled on her new pedestal in four months' time. On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland in front of thousands of spectators. (Ironically, it was Cleveland who, as Governor of the State of New York, had earlier vetoed a bill by the New York legislature to contribute $50,000 to the building of the pedestal.) ^[17] In any event, she was a centennial gift ten years belated.

The Statue of Liberty was a real lighthouse from 1886 to 1902[4]and [5]. At that time the US Lighthouse board was responsible for its operation. In fact there was a lighthouse keeper and the electric light could be seen for 24 miles at sea. There was an electric plant on the island to generate power for the light.

In 1916, the Black Tom Explosion caused $100,000 worth of damage to the statue, embedding shrapnel and eventually leading to the closing of the torch to visitors. The same year, Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, modified the original copper torch by cutting away most of the copper in the flame, retrofitting glass panes and installing an internal light^{citation needed]}. After these modifications, the torch severely leaked rainwater and snowmelt, accelerating corrosion inside the statue. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary (October 28, 1936).

As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, Statue of Liberty National Monument, along with Ellis Island and Liberty Island, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966^{citation needed]}.

Origin of the copper

Historical records make no mention of the source of the copper used in the Statue of Liberty. In the town of Vigsnes in the municipality of Karmøy, Norway, tradition holds that the copper came from the French-owned Visnes Mine.^[19]^[20] Ore from this mine, refined in France and Belgium, was a significant source of European copper in the late nineteenth century. In 1985, Bell Laboratories used emission spectrography to compare samples of copper from the Visnes Mines and from the Statue of Liberty, found the spectrum of impurities to be very similar, and concluded that the evidence argued strongly for a Norwegian origin of the copper.

Liberty Centennial

The Statue of Liberty was one of the earliest beneficiaries of a cause marketing campaign. A 1983 promotion advertised that for each purchase made with an American Express card, American Express would contribute one penny to the renovation of the statue. The campaign generated contributions of $1.7 million to the Statute of Liberty restoration project. In 1984, the statue was closed so that a $62 million renovation could be performed for the statue's centennial. Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca was appointed by President Reagan to head the commission overseeing the task (but was later dismissed "to avoid any question of conflict" of interest).^[21] Workers erected scaffolding around the statue, obscuring it from public view until the rededication on July 4, 1986. Inside work began with workers using liquid nitrogen to remove seven layers of paint applied to the interior of the copper skin over the decades. That left two layers of tar originally applied to plug leaks and prevent corrosion. Blasting with baking soda removed the tar without further damaging the copper. Larger holes in the copper skin had edges smoothed then mated with new copper patches.^{citation needed]}

Each of the 1,350 shaped iron ribs backing the skin had to be removed and replaced. The iron had experienced galvanic corrosion wherever it contacted the copper skin, losing up to 50% of its thickness. Bartholdi had anticipated the problem and used an asbestos/pitch combination to separate the metals, but the insulation had worn away decades before. New bars of stainless steel bent into matching shapes replaced the iron bars, with Teflon film separating them from the skin for further insulation and friction reduction. Liquid nitrogen was again introduced to parts of the copper skin in a cryogenics process which was treated by a (now defunct) Michigan company called CryoTech^{citation needed]} to ensure certain individual parts of the statue were strengthened and would last longer after installation.

The internal structure of the upraised right arm was reworked. The statue was erected with the arm offset 18" (0.46 m) to the right and forward of Eiffel's central frame, while the head was offset 24" (0.61 m) to the left, which compromised the framework. Theory held that Bartholdi made the modification without Eiffel's involvement after seeing the arm and head were too close. Engineers considered reinforcements made in 1932 insufficient and added diagonal bracing in 1984 and 1986 to make the arm structurally sound.

New Torch

A new torch replaced the original, which was deemed beyond repair because of the extensive 1916 modifications. The 1886 torch is now located in the monument's lobby museum. The new torch has gold plating applied to the exterior of the "flame," which is illuminated by external lamps on the surrounding balcony platform. Upgraded climate control systems and two elevators (one to the top of the pedestal and a small emergency elevator to the crown) were added. The Statue of Liberty was reopened to the public on July 5, 1986.

David L. Wolper produced the centennial extravaganza,^[22] which lasted three days, drew 12 million people, and is said to have been the largest public event in the world as of that date. Following Roosevelt's example, President Reagan attended and made a speech reopening the restored statue. Liberty Fanfare, composed by John Williams, was commissioned to celebrate this event.

After 9/11

Until September 11, 2001, the interior of the statue was open to visitors. They would arrive by ferry and could climb the circular single-file stairs (limited by the available space) inside the metallic statue, exposed to the sun out in the harbor (the interior reaching extreme temperatures, particularly in summer months), and about 30 people at a time could fit up into her crown. This provided a broad view of New York Harbor (she faces the ocean, and France) through 25 windows, the largest approximately 18" in height. The view did not, therefore, include the skyline of New York City, however. The wait outside regularly exceeded 3 hours, excluding the wait for ferries and ferry tickets.

Liberty Island closed on September 11, 2001; the islands reopened in December, and the statue itself reopened on August 3, 2004. Currently, the museum and ten-story pedestal are open for visitation. The interior of the statue remains closed, although a glass ceiling in the pedestal allows for views of Eiffel's iron framework.

Visitors to Liberty Island and the Statue are currently subject to restrictions, including personal searches similar to the security found in airports.

That was not the first time, however, that the Statue of Liberty had been threatened by terrorism. On February 18, 1965, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced it had uncovered a plot by three commandos from the Black Liberation Front, who were connected to Cuba, and a female co-conspirator from Montreal seeking independence for Quebec from Canada, who were sent to destroy the statue and at least two other national shrines - the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.

In June 2006, a bill, S. 3597, was proposed in Congress which, if approved, could re-open the crown and interior of the Statue of Liberty to visitors. Approval or disapproval of this bill will probably occur in early- to mid-2007.^[23]

On August 9, 2006 National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, in a letter to Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York stated that the crown and interior of the statue would remain closed indefinitely. The letter stated that "the current access patterns reflect a responsible management strategy in the best interests of all our visitors.".^[24]

Jumps

At 2:45 p.m. on February 2, 1912, steeplejack Frederick R. Law successfully performed a parachute jump from the observation platform surrounding the torch. It was done with the permission of the army captain administering the island. The New York Times reported that he "fell fully seventy-five feet like a dead weight, the parachute showing no inclination whatsoever to open at first", but he then descended "gracefully", landed hard, and limped away.^[25]

The first and so far only death on Liberty Island occurred on May 13, 1929. The Times reported a witness as saying the man, later identified as Ralph Gleason, crawled out through one of the windows of the crown, turned around as if to return, "seemed to slip" and "shot downward, bouncing off the breast of the statue in the plunge." The body landed on a patch of grass at the base, just a few feet from a workman who was mowing the grass.^[26]

Replicas and derivative works

Hundreds of other Statues of Liberty have been erected worldwide. There is a sister statue in Paris and several others in France; they exist in Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Vietnam; one existed in Hanoi during French colonial days. There are replicas in theme parks and resorts, replicas created as commercial advertising, and replicas erected in U.S. communities by patriotic benefactors, including no less than two hundred donated by Boy Scout troops to local communities. During the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, Chinese student demonstrators in Beijing built a 10 m image called the Goddess of Democracy, which sculptor Tsao Tsing-yuan said was intentionally dissimilar to the Statue of Liberty to avoid being "too openly pro-American".^[27]

In popular culture

The Statue of Liberty quickly became a popular icon, featured in scores of posters, pictures, motion pictures, and books. A 1911 O. Henry story relates a fanciful conversation between "Mrs. Liberty" and another statue; it figured in 1918 Liberty Loan posters. During the 1940s and 1950s, pulp Science Fiction magazines featured Lady Liberty surrounded by ruins or by the sediments of the ages. It has been in dozens of motion pictures, such as the 1942 Alfred Hitchcock movie Saboteur, which featured a climactic confrontation at the statue. In the 1989 film, Ghostbusters 2, the ghostbusters use positively charged slime to bring the Statue of Liberty to life in order to help defeat the evil Vigo. It was the subject of a 1978 University of Wisconsin-Madison prank in which Lady Liberty appeared to be standing submerged in a local lake. It has appeared on New York and New Jersey license plates, and on the uniforms of at least one sports team. It was the subject of magician David Copperfield's largest vanishing act. Several video games have used it as a setting, including Civilization II, Civilization IV, Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, Spider-Man 2, and Deus Ex.

Photo gallery

Parody

Lady Liberty was parodied in the Sculptor's Cut, an updated version of ClayFighter 63 1/3.

statue of liberty

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