Happy Dedication Day to a Glorious Lady!

On this date, October 28, 1886, a beautiful lady was dedicated in New York.

This is an important day for America!

While we have politicians in Washington DC, and in numerous states around this great nation, to close the borders, stop the immigrants, return the immigrants to their countries. It’s time we step back, and reflect.

We need to remember, THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT BY IMMIGRANTS! This country has been populated by immigrants since the beginning of time.

History reminds us that the first people arriving in this country were met by the Indians. They had to learn to live with the Indians, learn from the Indians on how to survive in this nation. Yet, now, our politicians, whom not one of them has their ancestry structured from any American Indian tribal background, but all have their ancestry of foreign countries, who immigrated to this nation, are wanting our borders closed to immigrants.

Now, I bring you a bit of history, and a wonderful story, about the Statue of Liberty!

This grand Lady, the Statue of Liberty, was built, and placed, in the Harbor of New York, for a reason. When people arrived here from other countries, entering this harbor, the very first thing that they, immigrants from foreign lands, foreign countries, would lay their eyes upon was this Grand Lady standing tall in the harbor, welcoming them to this land of the free!

The pedestal was completed in April 1886 and finally, on October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland oversaw the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in front of thousands of spectators.

The iconic Statue of Liberty, a symbol of freedom and democracy, was officially dedicated in New York Harbor. Theresa statue was gifted by France to the United States. Lady Liberty has welcomed generations of immigrants and stands as a beacon of hope, inspiration, and most of all, Democracy!

A photograph of Edouard de Laboulaye from the Galerie Contemporaine collection. National Park Service, Statue of Liberty NM

Frenchman Édouard de Laboulaye, an ardent supporter of America, proposed the idea of presenting a monumental gift from the people of France to the people of the United States in 1865. Laboulaye wished to commemorate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence as well as celebrate the close relationship between France and America. He was moved also, by the recent abolition of slavery in the United States, which furthered America’s ideals of liberty and freedom.

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi

Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was in attendance for Laboulaye’s proclamation. Bartholdi, being one that thought as Laboulaye, began forming the idea of the colossal structure that would soon be known as Liberty Enlightening the World.

Bartholdi’s design began to bring about much symbolism: her crown representing light with its spikesevoking sun rays extending out to the world; the tablet, inscribed with July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals, noting American independence; to symbolize the end of slavery, Bartholdi placed a broken shackle and chains at the Statue’s foot.

Fundraising and bringing people together have always been integral to Lady Liberty’s history. It began with efforts to finance this unprecedented undertaking. France would be responsible for creating the Statue and assembling it in the United States. In the meantime, the American people would fund and build the pedestal.

To raise funds in France, public fees, various forms of entertainment, and a lottery were used. In the U.S., to finance the pedestal, benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions, and prizefights were held. Poet Emma Lazarus wrote her famous sonnet, The New Colossus, in 1883 for an art and literary auction.

Statue of Liberty-Sonnet plaque

The New Colossus

BY EMMA LAZARUS

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!”

Is any poem more of a public institution than “The New Colossus”? Since 1903, when it was first displayed on a plaque inside the base of the Statue of Liberty, Emma Lazarus’s signature sonnet has become one of the most renowned and quoted poems on the planet.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/144956/emma-lazarus-the-new-colossus

Despite these efforts, fundraising for the pedestal went slowly. To spark public action, in 1885, Joseph Pulitzer placed an ad in his paper the New York World inviting readers to donate to the cause. In exchange, Pulitzer printed each donor’s name in the newspaper. The public rose to the challenge with 120,000 people donating over $100,000 and securing the remaining funds needed for the Statue’s pedestal.

Meanwhile in France, Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer to address structural issues associated with designing such a colossal copper sculpture.

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in 1888

Photographed by Félix Nadar

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, just prior to creating his famed Tower, was engaged to design the massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework that allows the Statue’s copper skin to move independently yet stand upright.

Construction of the Statue was completed in France in July 1884. The massive sculpture stood tall above the rooftops of Paris awaiting her voyage across the sea.

Richard Morris Hunt

Back in America that same year architect Richard Morris Hunt was selected to design the Statue’s granite pedestal, and construction got underway.

For the trans-Atlantic voyage aboard the frigate Isère, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. The ship arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885. While awaiting construction of its pedestal, the Statue remained in pieces on what was then called Bedloe’s Island.

The Statue of Liberty

AP Photo/Richard Drew

Nearly a quarter-of-a-million onlookers lined Battery Park, while hundreds of boats pulled into the harbor to welcome the Isère.

The Statue of Liberty was conceived to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American Revolution in 1876. It faces East, greeting incoming ships while also looking back toward her birthplace in France. President Grover Cleveland, a former New York governor, dedicated the statue on Oct. 28, 1886, before tens of thousands of spectators.

The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially among Americans; by 1885, work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds.

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World started a donation drive to finish the project, which attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar.

Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred for safety reasons since 1916. It was designated a national monument in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge and underwent a major restoration in the 1980s.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the statue was closed for security reasons. The pedestal was reopened to the public in 2004 and the statue itself in 2009. It was closed again for a year, until Oct. 28, 2012, so that a secondary staircase and other safety features could be added. However, one day after it reopened, Liberty Island — formally called Bedloe’s Island — was battered by Hurricane Sandy, forcing yet another temporary closure.

SOURCE: U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/17/statue-of-liberty-arrives-in-new-york-harbor-june-17-1885-646495

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

https://www.statueofliberty.org/statue-of-liberty/overview-history/#:~:text=The%20pedestal%20was%20completed%20in,front%20of%20thousands%20of%20spectators.