Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
When Edouard de Laboulaye had the idea for France to present a monumental gift to the United States in 1865, it required a massive fundraising effort from both countries. Laboulaye wanted to celebrate the close relationship between France and America, the centennial of the Declaration of Independence, and the recent abolition of slavery in the United States. The statue, originally known as “Liberty Enlightening the World,” had many ideas to encompass.Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design the statue. With a crown evoking the sun’s rays extending into the world, a tablet inscribed with “JULY IV MDCCLXXVI” (July 4, 1776) to symbolize American independence, and a broken shackle and chains beneath the statue’s foot to symbolize the end of slavery, Lady Liberty would eventually stand holding her torch aloft as a beacon of welcome to immigrants who sailed past her on their way to America. In the meantime though, the United States was tasked with funding and building the pedestal while France was responsible for creating and funding the statue.
