THE WOMAN WHO SHAPED
LADY LIBERTY AMERICA’S CHARACTER
When the lady with the torch appears on the horizon, all is forgotten. Gone are the perils of the journey, the high winds, the rough seas, the unsettled stomachs—only one thing counts now: The men, women, and children on board have reached their destination. As the ship sails into the Upper New York Bay, the passengers stare in amazement at Liberty Island, the home of the planet’s most famous reception lady: “Liberty Enlightening the World.” The Irish-american author Frank Mccourt described the moment like this: “You sail into the harbor, and Staten Island is on your left, and then you see the Statue of Liberty. This is what everyone in the world has dreams of when they think about New York. And I thought, ‘My God, I’m in Heaven.’”
Architect Daniel Libeskind recounts a comparable experience: “I came as an immigrant on a ship past the Statue of Liberty. And I saw that skyline as the substance of the American Dream.” Like Mccourt and Libeskind, scores of other immigrants who’ve laid eyes on Lady Liberty after traveling thousands of sea miles with nothing but hope in their hearts have seen it the same way. The iconic statue proffers the promise of a better future—not least because when the lady with the seven-spiked crown had arrived in New York as an immigrant more than a century ago, she was anything but welcome…
HOW THE STATUE OF LIBERTY ALMOST STOOD IN EGYPT
The vision for the statue materialized some 3,600 miles from New York City,
Lady Liberty was finally dedicated in the autumn of 1886, 10 years later than the envisioned fi rst centennial of the Declaration of Independence. Bedloe’s Island was chosen as the site because of its prominent position at the top of New York Harbor. (It was renamed Liberty Island in 1956.)
On October 28, 1886, as the parade that marked the unveiling proceeded through Manhattan toward the harbor, it was greeted with great jubilation by hundreds of thousands of spectators. Wall Street employees fl ooded the streets below with paper strips from their stock tickers, and thus began the tradition of ticker-tape parades. President Grover Cleveland delivered a solemn speech in which he declared: “We will not forget that liberty has here made her home, nor shall her chosen altar be neglected. A stream of light shall pierce the darkness of ignorance and man’s oppression, until Liberty enlightens the world.” For a time the Statue of Liberty reigned supreme as the tallest structure in New York City, measuring 305 feet from the ground to the top of the flame. It has survived a nearby munitions- depot explosion and the wrath of Hurricane Sandy as well as countless lightning strikes.
THE KEY TO AMERICA’S HISTORY— AND A BRIDGE TO ITS FUTURE
No other structure is as symbolic of New York City and America in general as the famous lady holding the torch: