Statute of Liberty
Not only was it a dramatic moment when the Statue of Liberty was unveiled to a waiting public on October 28, 1886, another dramatic moment occurs each time this majestic symbol of freedom is viewed for the first time by immigrants, by those in military service returning from months of overseas duty, and by those who visit from foreign lands.
Located in New York harbor, the Statue of Liberty was a gift of international friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States. Donations by the people of France paid for the statue. Donations from the people of the United States paid for the pedestal.
The Revolutionary War could not have been won without help from the people of France. French help in the form of arms, ships, money and men enabled the Americans to form an independent country. One who came to help during the American Revolution was French Marquis de Lafayette who became an American General and close friend of George Washington. When the American Expeditionary Force came to the aid of the French people during World War I, it was the help from the French people during the Revolutionary War that caused General Pershing to visit Lafayette's grave in Paris and exclaim, "Lafayette, we are here!"
This colossal copper statue, the largest ever made is 151 feet tall, standing on a pedestal 153 high, making the torch shine brightly at night 305 feet above the water level. It is one of the most universal symbols of political freedom. But to many it is much more than 450,000 pounds of copper. To returning men and women in military service it is a symbol of home, a feeling of great pride in their country. To new immigrants viewing her for the first time, it is a symbol of hope, freedom and equality not found any other place on earth. To those who visit from foreign lands, it is a symbol of American liberty and democracy.
The proper name for the statue given by sculptor, Frederic August Bartholdi, is "Liberty Enlightening the World". Her left arm holds a tablet that bears the date of the Declaration of Independence. At her feet is a broken shackle representing a people winning their freedom. The seven spikes around her head represent the seven seas. Her right hand held high in the sky holds the torch, which at night gleams with powerful fluorescent lights symbolizing liberty being shed on the world. It is the idea of this liberty which emerged from the Revolutionary War and was written into the United States Constitution by our founding fathers that the French people wanted to symbolize by this magnificent statue - as a new hope for the world.
The poem painted at the left, "The New Colossus", was written by Emma Lazarus and was inscribed on a plaque in the pedestal in 1908. It reflects the new hope held by so many destitute people who gave up their homelands, seeking a new life in this land of freedom - freedom from tyranny, hopelessness and oppression. And it is those very people who have made America a land of hope for many throughout the world.