History
***NOTES FROM SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - THIS IS ALSO JOHN F. KENNEDY, JR HE DESIGNED THE
STATUE AS A SYMBOL FOR SOPHIA OF WISDOM AND MOTHER ANN LEE WHO WAS THE UNIVERSAL LEADER = THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO VISITED ALL
PRESIDENTS AND HIS MOTHER JACQUELINE B. KENNEDY WHO HE IS VERY PROUD OF AND ENJOYS SPEAKING TO HER EVERYDAY
Discussions in France over a suitable gift to the United States to mark the Centennial of the
American Declaration of Independence were headed by the politician and sympathetic writer of the history of the United States,
Édouard René de Laboulaye. French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture with the year 1876
in mind for completion. The idea for the commemorative gift then grew out of the political turmoil which was shaking France
at the time. The French Third Republic was still considered as a "temporary" arrangement by many, who wished a return to monarchism, or to some form of representation of republican virtues to a "sister" republic across the sea
served as a focus for the republican cause against other politicians.
The first model, on a small scale, was built in 1870. This first statue is now in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
A second model, also on a small scale, was further brought to Maceió, a city in the Northeast of Brazil. This model is in front of Maceió's first city hall, built
in 1869, which is now a museum.
While on a visit to Egypt that was to shift his artistic perspective from simply grand to colossal, Bartholdi was inspired
by the project of the Suez Canal which was being undertaken by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, who later became a lifelong friend of his. He envisioned a giant lighthouse standing at the entrance
to the canal and drew plans for it. It would be patterned after the Roman goddess Libertas, modified to resemble a robed Egyptian peasant, a fallaha, with light beaming out from both a
headband and a torch thrust dramatically upward into the skies. Bartholdi presented his plans to the Egyptian Khedive, Isma'il Pasha, in 1867 and, with revisions, again in 1869, but the project was never commissioned because
of financial issues the country was going through.[13]
Bartholdi's design patent
It was agreed that in a joint effort, the American people were to build the base, and the French
people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly in the United States. In France, public donations, various forms of
entertainment including notably performances of La liberté éclairant le monde (Liberty enlightening the world) by soon-to-be
famous composer Charles Gounod at Paris Opera, and a charitable lottery were among the methods used to raise the 2,250,000 francs ($250,000). In the United States, benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights assisted in providing needed funds.
Meanwhile in France, Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer to address structural issues associated with
designing such a colossal copper sculpture. Gustave Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower) was commissioned to design the massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework which allows
the Statue's copper skin to move independently yet stand upright. Eiffel delegated the detailed work to his trusted structural engineer, Maurice Koechlin.
Bartholdi had initially planned to have the statue completed and presented to the United States
on July 4, 1876, but a late start and subsequent delays prevented it. However, by that time the right arm and
torch were completed. This part of the statue was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, where visitors were charged 50 cents to climb the ladder to the balcony. The money raised this
way was used to start funding the pedestal.
On June 30, 1878, at the Paris Exposition, the completed head of the statue was showcased in the garden of the Trocadéro palace, while other pieces were on display in the Champs de Mars.
Back in America, the site, authorized in New York Harbor by an act of Congress, 1877, was selected
by General William Tecumseh Sherman, who settled on Bartholdi's own choice, then known as Bedloe's Island (named after Isaac Bedloe), where there was already an early 19th century star-shaped fortification named Fort Wood. United States Minister to France Levi P. Morton hammered the first nail in the construction of the statue.
Richard Morris Hunt's pedestal under construction in June of 1885
On February 18, 1879, Bartholdi was granted a design patent, U.S. Patent D11,023 , on "a statue representing Liberty enlightening the world, the same consisting, essentially, of the draped female
figure, with one arm upraised, bearing a torch, and while the other holds an inscribed tablet, and having upon the head a
diadem, substantially as set forth." The patent described the head as having "classical, yet severe and calm, features," noted
that the body is "thrown slightly over to the left so as to gravitate upon the left leg, the whole figure thus being in equilibrium,"
and covered representations in "any manner known to the glyptic art in the form of a statue or statuette, or in alto-relievo
or bass-relief, in metal, stone, terra-cotta, plaster-of-paris, or other plastic composition."[14]
The financing for the statue was completed in France in July 1882.
Fund-raising for the pedestal, led by William M. Evarts, was going slowly, so Hungarian-born publisher Joseph Pulitzer (who established the Pulitzer Prize) opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, The World, to support the fund raising
effort in 1883. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize both the rich, who had failed to finance the pedestal construction,
and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds.[15] His campaign was an important contribution to the effort, but ultimately Senator Evarts and the American Committee
he headed raised the majority of funds for the pedestal.
The construction of the statue was completed in France in July 1884.
The cornerstone of the pedestal, designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt, was laid on August 5, 1884, but the construction had to be stopped by lack of funds in January 1885. It was resumed on May 11, 1885 after a renewed fund campaign by Joseph Pulitzer in March 1885. Thirty-eight of the forty-six
courses of masonry were yet to be built.
Used as a lighthouse, the original torch fatally disoriented birds
The statue arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885 on board the French frigate Isère. To prepare for transit, the Statue was reduced to 350
individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. (The right arm and the torch, which were completed earlier, had been exhibited
at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and thereafter at Madison Square in New York City.)
Financing for the pedestal was completed on August 11, 1885 and construction was finished on April 22, 1886. When the last stone of the pedestal was swung into place the masons reached into their pockets
and showered into the mortar a collection of silver coins.
Built into the pedestal's massive masonry are two sets of four iron girders, connected by iron
tie beams that are carried up to become part of Eiffel's framework for the statue itself. Thus Liberty is integral
with her pedestal.
The statue, which was stored for eleven months in crates waiting for its pedestal to be finished,
was then re-assembled in four months. On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland in front of thousands of spectators. (Cleveland, as Governor of the State of New York, had
earlier vetoed a bill by the New York legislature to contribute $50,000 to building of the pedestal.)[16]
The Statue of Liberty functioned as a lighthouse from 1886 to 1902.[17] At that time the U.S. Lighthouse board was responsible for its operation. There was a lighthouse keeper and the electric
light could be seen for 24 miles (39 km) at sea. As a lighthouse, it is the first to use electricity;[18] there was also an electric plant on the island to generate power for the light.[17]
In 1913 a group of young pilots graduated from the Moissant School of Aviation based on Long Island. One
of the graduates, the Mexican pilot Juan Pablo Aldasoro was selected to perform the first flight above the Statue of Liberty. All of the graduates later
on became members of the Early Birds of Aviation.
Political cartoon of the First Red Scare depicting a monstrous "European Anarchist" attempting to destroy the Statue of Liberty.
In 1916, floodlights were placed around the base of the statue.[19] Also in 1916, the Black Tom explosion caused $100,000 worth of damage ($1.9 million in 2007 dollars) to the statue, embedding shrapnel
and eventually leading to the closing of the torch to visitors. The same year, Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, modified the original copper torch by cutting away most of the copper in the flame, retrofitting
glass panes and installing an internal light.[20] After these modifications, the torch severely leaked rainwater and snowmelt, accelerating corrosion inside the statue.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary (October 28, 1936).
In 1956, through an act of Congress, Bedloe's Island was officially renamed Liberty Island,
though Liberty Island had been used informally since the turn of the century.
As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, Statue of Liberty National
Monument, along with Ellis Island and Liberty Island, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[21]
In 1984, the Statue of Liberty was added to the list of World Heritage Sites.[22]
In 2007, the Statue of Liberty was one of 20 finalists in a competition to name the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Inspiration for the face
Unsubstantiated sources cite different models for the face of the statue. One indicated the
then-recently widowed Isabella Eugenie Boyer, the wife of Isaac Singer, the sewing-machine industrialist. "She was rid of the uncouth presence of her husband,
who had left her with only his most socially desirable attributes: his fortune and -- his children. She was, from the beginning
of her career in Paris, a well-known figure. As the good-looking French widow of an American industrialist she was called
upon to be Bartholdi's model for the Statue of Liberty."[23] Another source believed that the "stern face" belonged to Bartholdi's mother, Charlotte Bartholdi (1801–1891),
with whom he was very close.[24] National Geographic magazine also pointed to his mother, noting that Bartholdi never denied nor explained the resemblance.[25]
Physical characteristics
Interior view of the statue upwards, now closed to public access
Aerial view in December 2007
The interior of the statue used to be open to visitors. They arrived by ferry and could climb
the circular single-file stairs (limited by the available space) inside the metallic statue, exposed to the sun out in the
harbor (the interior reaching extreme temperatures, particularly in summer months), and about 30 people at a time could fit up into the crown. This
provided a broad view of New York Harbor (it faces the ocean) through 25 windows, the largest approximately 18" (46 cm)
in height. The view did not, therefore, include the skyline of New York City. The wait outside regularly exceeded 3 hours,
excluding the wait for ferries and ferry tickets.
The green-blue coloration is caused by chemical reactions, which produced copper salts and created
the current hue. Most copper statues in the outside elements, left to their own, will eventually turn this color in a process
called patination.[26]
There are 354 steps inside the statue and its pedestal, with 25 windows in the crown which comprise the jewels beneath the seven rays of the diadem. The tablet which the statue holds in her left hand reads, in Roman numerals, "July 4, 1776" the day of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
The Statue of Liberty was engineered to withstand heavy winds. Winds of 50 miles per hour cause
the Statue to sway 3 inches (7.62 cm) and the torch to sway 5 inches (12.7 cm). This allows the Statue to move rather than
break in high wind load conditions.
