This Week in History: The birth of the Statue of Liberty
- ANTONE PIERUCCI
- Posted On
On Oct. 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty on an island in New York Harbor, declaring, “We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.”
The president’s speech was just the end of a journey that stretched over two decades, encompassed two continents and spanned the Atlantic Ocean.
It had begun in the summer of 1865, when a group of men sat around a table in the suburbs of Paris. In attendance was Edouard Rene de Laboulaye, the owner of the house and a well-known author; noted historian Henri Martin; Oscar and Edmond de Lafayette, grandsons of the Marquis de Lafayette of American Revolution fame; and a young artist from the Alsace region, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.
It was reportedly Laboulaye who first off-handedly remarked how wonderful it would be for France to present the American people with a monument to memorialize the friendship between the two nations, two sister republics and bastions of freedom. Although no action would be taken for some years, the idea of a monument germinated in the creative mind of the young artist Bartholdi, where it found fertile ground.
Following the disastrous 1870 conclusion to the Franco-Prussian War, the time seemed ripe for France to reconnect with America.
In 1871, the plan for the as-yet-unnamed monument was rejuvenated, with Laboulaye garnering support for the project at home and Bartholdi raising interest in America.
The artist attended dinner gatherings of wealthy socialites in New York City and elsewhere along the eastern seaboard. His marketing work paid off and it was decided that America would finance the construction of the pedestal and France that of the statue itself.
The plan was to erect the monument by July 4, 1876 – the centennial anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The iconic monument took form as a resolute lady liberty. In one hand she held a tablet bearing the date of July 4, 1776, in the other, a blazing torch of enlightenment. The statue’s symbolism, as well as its actual name, "Liberty Enlightening the World," reflected the emotions behind her formation. To the values of liberty, freedom and knowledge would Lady Liberty stand at the entrance to America, proclaiming their superiority over all others. Her very genealogy would be a testament to the deep kinship between France and America.
In her left hand, she held a tablet containing the date July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals. The seven rays of her crown represent the light of liberty shining across the seven seas and continents.
All in all, it was a spectacular monument, but an extraordinarily expensive one.
Despite raising a significant amount of money for both the pedestal and the actual statue, Lady Liberty arose from the heaps of bronze, copper and iron only incrementally.
Rather than unveiling her in all her glory on July 4, 1876, Bartholdi and his compatriots could only show her extended arm, clutching the torch.
They built the rest of Lady Liberty over the next eight years. When the French finally finished their part of the bargain in 1884, they looked to the Americans to uphold theirs.
With the ceremonial cornerstone laying on August 5, 1884, construction of the pedestal began in earnest.
It still took two years to complete. In that time, Lady Liberty had been disassembled into 350 pieces, packed into 214 crates aboard a French ship and unloaded in New York, only to wait while workers finished construction of her pedestal.
Rather than a hindrance to the project, the old star-shaped Fort Wood that had sat on the island for almost a century had been incorporated into Liberty’s base.
Finally, in 1886 all was ready for assembling her in her final place. The work proceeded rapidly and by Oct. 28, 1886 – just 10 years and three months late – Bartholdi himself drew back the French flag covering Liberty’s face to the sounds of whistles, the roar of guns and the applause of those below.
The Statue of Liberty, as the striking monument was popularly nicknamed, stood 151 feet tall. Bartholdi had designed the statue, but Gustave Eiffel, who had built the Eiffel Tower in Paris (which would be unveiled several months later) had designed the structural metal skeleton. Although first envisioned as a monument to democracy and enlightenment, the symbolism of the statue evolved with the nation.
When, in 1903, officials placed a bronze plaque bearing Emma Lazarus’ now-famous poem, "The New Colossus," Liberty became an emblem of America’s promise to the world’s poor. With her austere gaze, she commanded the entry into the port of New York.
She still stands there today, a testament to the value of freedom so greatly cherished by the democracies that birthed her. "Give me your tired, your poor; Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.