The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (Officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World is perhaps the most famous landmark in the US! Located on Liberty Island in New York City, Lady Liberty was designed and built by the French as a gift to the United States. The project was the brainchild of Edouard de Laboulaye, a prominent French antislavery activist. She was built to commemorate the United States Centennial in 1876 as well, as the recent abolition of slavery after the Civil War. She was designed by a Frenchman named Frédéric Bartholdi. Bartholdi designed her and the steel frame was built by Gustave Eiffel, who would later go on to construct the Eiffel tower. Lady Liberty was built in France, and then dismantled and shipped to the United States. An island known at the time as Bedloe's Island was selected as the site for her foundation. Bedloe's Island was home to an army fort that the statue's pedestal would be built on it Hungarian immigrant and newspaper magnate, Joseph Pulitzer, launched a campaign to raise money for her pedestal in his New York World newspaper. Donations would pour in from all over the country. Fundraisers were held all over to construct Liberty's new perch. Hundreds of workers brought her to life, it was an ambitious and dangerous project. Fortunately no one was seriously injured building her. She was finally finished and dedicated on October 28th, 1886 with president (and former New York governor) Grover Cleveland in attendence. Millions of New Yorkers flooded the streets with celebrations and ticker-tape parades to welcome their new Lady. In her right arm, she holds a torch which she proudly lifts to the sky, representing enlightnement. Atop her head is a crown with seven spires 25 windows. Each spire represents one of the seven continents as well as one of the seven seas and each window represents light from Heaven. Cradled in her left arm is a tablet with the date July IV, MDCCLXXVI, otherwise known as July 4th, 1776, harkening back to the Revolution. The tablet is actually shaped like a keystone, which represents the rule of law as key to American liberty. Under her feet are a pair of broken chains, representing the abolition of slavery.
She is made of copper! Overtime, exposure to the atmosphere has caused her to oxidize resulting in her famous green color. This print from Currier and Ives shows her in her original state!
While originally constructed to commemorate aboliton, she would soon take on a whole new meaning. As part of the fundraising effort for the pedestal, a poem was written and published in the World. The poem was written by a Sephardic Jewish woman named Emma Lazarus. Emma's family had been in New York City almost as long as New York itself. She was moved by the masses of Russian Jews fleeing persecution in Russia, she spent most of her time assisting newly arrived immigrants. These people, the wretched, tempest tossed, refuse, that the Old World had rejected, decided to move to the USA. Emma envisioned the Statue as a welcoming giant. A symbol that told the world's huddled masses to come in. Her poem The New Colossus contrasts Lady Liberty with the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, a famous, though not very inviting, statue from ancient Greece. She welcomes immigrants to their new home. As time went on, millions of immigrants from all over Europe (including my ancestors) would come to New York City's Ellis Island. On their way there, they would pass right by Lady Liberty. She served as a beacon to all who yearned to breathe free. Millions of Americans today can trace their ancestory to people who made the perilous journey across the Atlantic and through Ellis Island. Everyone of them was welcomed by Lady Liberty. Emma Lazarus passed away in 1887, a year after Liberty's dedication, it wasn't until 1903 when a friend of hers petitioned to get her poem affixed onto the statue itself.
My Thoughts
I feel like Lady Liberty represents the spirit of America at her best. She represented Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. She welcomed those who have been rejected and offered them the chance of a better life. She embodies the idea of America being a place where anyone, no matter their station in life, can come and thrive together. Not just survive, but thrive. Together. One of Hitler's criticisms of the United States was that we are a "mongrel nation". We were "too diverse". Many prominent figures in American politics today feel the same way. But the diversity of our country is what makes us strong. This land was made for all of us. We all need to work towards making it better, for all of us. We are a nation of dreamers, my dream, as I have said, is of a country where we can all live out our best lives, however we see fit, unencumbered by anything but ourselves. Liberty represents that. She lifts her lamp besides our golden door, it lights our way through the darkness of bigotry, ignorance, and hatred. Things that seem to be tearing our nation apart currently. I think one of my favorite features of Liberty is that she is walking forward. Liberty is on the move. She inspires us to be on the move too, to be active in promoting, safeguarding, and expanding the blessings this country has. A better life is in reach if we can all see what unites us. There's more that unites us then what divides us, that's what Lady Liberty means to me. She represents something that every one of us can get behind. Something good, something decent, something pure.
Jewish immigrants arriving in New York City
The New Colossus
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!"
