Statue of Liberty: A Gift from France to America

The Statue of Liberty, officially Liberty Enlightening the World, is a neoclassical copper sculpture dedicated in 1886 on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi with an internal framework by Gustave Eiffel, the statue stands 151 ft 1 in from foot to torch. It was a gift from the French people to commemorate the centennial of U.S. independence and the abolition of slavery. The idea originated in 1865 with French historian Édouard de Laboulaye. The statue's crown spikes represent sun rays, and the broken shackle symbolizes emancipation. Bartholdi adapted plans from an earlier project for Egypt. A Franco-American Union funded the statue; France paid for the statue, America for the pedestal. Fundraising included exhibitions of the torch at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and the head at the 1878 Paris World's Fair. Poet Emma Lazarus contributed the sonnet "The New Colossus" in 1883. The pedestal, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, was built atop Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island. After delays, the statue was assembled and dedicated on October 28, 1886. The original torch was replaced in 1984 due to damage and is now displayed in the Statue of Liberty Museum.