A Gargantuan Gift

If you climb to the top of the Rockefeller Center in New York City and look out towards the sea, you should be able to catch a glimpse of a tall lady with a determined face holding a torch and a tablet.  She stands welcoming all immigrants to the land of hope.  She is a symbol of our freedom. She is the Statue of Liberty.

She was born at dinner one night when some Frenchmen were talking.  the French loved America’s freedom and wanted to honor it.  They also hoped that the statue would strengthen the hope for a French democracy.  A sculptor named Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who was also at the dinner, pictured a Roman goddess leading the was to freedom.  Using his mother as a model, he sculpted several small samples.  The final statue was presented to the ambassador of the United States on July 4, 1884.  It was made of many copper sheets hammered together.  Gustave Eiffel, who constructed the Eiffel Tower, designed an iron “spine” to hold he up.  

While the French were in charge of the statue, it was up to the Americans to build her pedestal.  They weren’t doing too well, until Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, convinced people to donate money to pay for the massive pedestal.  Finally, she was shipped to America.

Her dedication on October 28, 1884 began with a parade through the streets of New York.  A water parade to Liberty Island followed shortly after.  the public was not allowed on the island during the ceremony, and fearing for the female’s safety, only two women were allowed near, Bartholdi’s wife, and the commissioner’s granddaughter. Because of bad weather, a grand firework spectacle was postponed until November 1.

There are 354 steps inside the statue.  She is 305 feet tall including her pedestal, and 151 feet without it.  She weighs 225 tons, but is surprisingly skinny maybe it’s the robe.  Inside the statue, parts that are within the visitor’s reach are coated with a special plastic so the graffiti an be washed away.  There are seven rays on her crown symbolizing the seven continents.  The tablet in her right arm reads July IV, MDCCLXXVI, which is July 4, 1776 in Roman Numerals.  She was originally named Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World.  Because of the wartime blackouts, she was not illuminated during WWII, but on June 6,1944, the lights flashed dot-dot-dash, Morse Code for “v,” which stood for victory and an end ti the war.  The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of our freedom, but also a gift from France because of our friendship during the French Revolution.  She was an amazing birthday present.

Bibliography

1. Skillings, Pamela. “Statue of Liberty.” Accessed June 4, 2012. http://manhattan.about.com/od/historyandlandmarks/a/statueofliberty.htm
2. “Statue of Liberty.” Posted June 3, 2012.  Accessed June 4, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/statue_of_liberty
3. Winkler, Peter. “The Light of Liberty.” Accessed June 4, 2012.  http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/history/statue-of-liberty/