Lady Liberty

      For many immigrants, the bright torch and billowing robes of Lady Liberty signified the end of their journey to America and the beginning of their journey in America. The Statue of Liberty was very symbolic for many weary travelers, and rightfully so. The Franco-American statue was designed to be a symbol of freedom. The woman depicted in the statue (amazingly enough modeled after the statue designer’s mother) represents liberty, while her torch is a beacon for the masses that seek refuge. Her seven-spiked crowned is representative of liberty shining out to the seven continents and seven seas. In addition, a chain representing tyranny lays broken at her feet. On the interior wall of the Statue of Liberty, Emma Lazarus’s poem, “The New Colossus,” is inscribed on a bronze plaque. The poem reads: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
      With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
      Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
      A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
      Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
      Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
      Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
      The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
      Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
      With silent lips. “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!
      First conceived by French politician Edouard-Rene Lefebvre in the mid-1860’s, the 300 foot Statue of Liberty would come to celebrate liberty in both America and France. In 1875, construction first began on the statue in Paris, France and construction of the 150-foot pedestal began in the United States on Bedloe Island (now Liberty Island) in 1884 . Interestingly enough, the framework of the Statue of Liberty was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who engineered the Eiffel tower.
      On July 4, 1884, the completed statue was offically presented to the U.S. in Paris, France. Soon after, construction of the pedestal began in America. Funds ran low, however, and all activities halted. Not until March 1885 did construction begin again, after a fund-drive by media mogul Joseph Pulitzer. The pedestal was finally completed in April of 1886 at a final cost of $300,000.
      The statue, christened Liberty Englightening the World was dedicated on October 28, 1886 to a boat-filled New York Bay. Cheering crowds admired the copper colored behemoth. In attendance were President Grover Cleveland and representatives of the French government. All were awestruck by the monument’s size and beauty.
      Over the years, the statue’s bronze color has weathered and faded to the familiar blue-green that we are accustomed to. Even so, the statue’s strength has a symbol has not faded. Initially a sign of the Franco-American alliance during the Revolutionary War, the Statue of Liberty has come to symbolize so much during times of war. The statue was a sign of freedom during the World Wars, at least for the United States. In addition, Lady Liberty represented freedom and a new life for the millions of immigrants that entered the United States in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Even today, Liberty Enlightening the World represents freedom for the generations that have descending from those immigrants who first beheld the monument.

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References
21 James B. Bell "Statue of Liberty" World Book Encyclopedia Multiple Editors. World Book, Inc.; Chicago 1993. pp. 874-881; Volume So-Sz

25 Gary Feuerstein "The Statue of Liberty: Facts, News, and Information" April 1, 1998 <http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/liberty.html> (August 3, 1999)



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