The Statue Of Liberty is a national treasure that represents freedom, inspiration, and hope. It is the Mother of Exiles, greeting millions of immigrants giving people hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life in the United States. The torch of the Statue of Liberty symbolizes enlightenment and the power of knowledge. The statue was built in Paris, throughout 1881-1884. The statue was later taken apart and shipped to the United States aboard the French Navy ship, Isère. The Statue arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885.
The cost of reassembling the statue was so expensive that NYC didn’t have the money to pay for it, and almost ended up losing the statue. Through a fundraising effort that we recognize today as crowdfunding, New York City citizens were able to raise enough money to fund the building of the pedestal for the statue. The pedestal for the Statue was a work in progress for about year, and the entire structure was reassembled on Bedloe’s Island in 1886. The seven points on her crown symbolize the seven seas, the seven continents, and the rays of the sun. In the book she holds is the date that our Declaration of Independence was signed, ( July 4, 1776 ). This is meant to motivate the spread of liberty around the world. Today, the Statue of Liberty receives about 3,000 to 20,000 visitors each day.
On July 30th, 1916, German Spies planted explosives in a munitions depot connecting Black Tom Island with Jersey City. Lady liberty’s arm and torch were damaged by the flying debris, and later fixed in 1984. The torch had been replaced and covered in 24-karat gold leaf. Unfortunately even after the repairs, the balcony for visitors at the top of the torch has not been opened back up, but you can still visit the crown. The statue sways 3 inches (7.6 cm) in the wind and the torch sways 5 inches (12.7 cm). Lady Liberty is struck by lightning 600 times every year.
Lady Liberty would have been a speaking statue if Thomas Edison’s idea of installing a giant microphone inside wasn’t rejected. Buried under Lady Liberty is a hidden box. Inside there is a copy of the U.S. Constitution, 20 bronze medals and a picture of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue Of Liberty. Bartholdi designed the face of the statue, based on his mother, and the Roman goddess Libertas.
