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The Statue of Liberty
The first tourist
attraction we chose to visit on our New York Pass just had to be a trip
over to see The Statue of Liberty. We knew before we
went that we couldn't go up to the crown (booked until the end of October, or
about seven or eight months ahead), we would be happy to do the pedestal. We
jumped up fresh-faced and raring to get stuck in to the role of serious
tourists. Leaving Beez at eight, on the subway with the commuters, to the end of
the number 1 train route. We crossed the road to pick up our ferry tickets in
Fort Clinton and made our way to the queue, not overly long at this time in the
morning.
Beside us as we
queued was the American Merchant Mariners Memorial.
This serves "as a marker for American Merchant Mariners resting in the unmarked
ocean depths." Rather lovely we thought, especially the helping hand rescuing
the man in the water, not very visible when it is high
tide.
Once through the
'airport security' we boarded one of the many ferries for the short ride over to
the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World,
French: La Liberté éclairant le monde). A a colossal neoclassical
sculpture on Liberty
Island in New
York Harbour, designed by
Frédéric
Bartholdi and dedicated on the
28th of October 1886. The statue, a gift to the United States from the
people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman
goddess of freedom, who
bears a torch and a tabula
ansata (a tablet evoking
the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American
Declaration of Independence. A broken chain lies
at her feet. The statue has become an icon of freedom and of the United
States.
 
Bartholdi was
inspired by French law professor and politician Édouard
René de Laboulaye, who commented in
1865 that any monument raised to American independence would properly be a joint
project of the French and American peoples. Due to the troubled political
situation in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870’s.
In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the Americans
provide the pedestal and the site. Bartholdi completed both the head and the
torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were
exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The arm was displayed in
New York's Madison
Square Park from 1876 to 1882.
Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on
the pedestal was threatened due to lack of funds. Publisher Joseph
Pulitzer of the World initiated a drive
for donations to complete the project and the campaign inspired over
120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar. The statue was
constructed in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the
completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's
completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape
parade and a dedication
ceremony presided over by President Grover
Cleveland.
The statue was administered by the US
Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department
of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National
Park Service. The statue was closed for renovation for much of 1938. In the early
1980's, it was found to have deteriorated to such an extent that a major
restoration was required. While the statue was closed from 1984 to 1986, the
torch and a large part of the internal structure were replaced. After the 9/11
attacks, it was closed for reasons of safety and security; the pedestal reopened
in 2004 and the statue in 2009, with limits on the number of visitors allowed to
ascend to the crown. The statue is scheduled to close for up to a year beginning
in late 2011 so that a secondary staircase can be installed, lucky for us to be
here now. Public access to the balcony surrounding the torch has been barred for
safety reasons since 1916. We were thrilled to be able to visit her and spent
ages in the museum finding out how she was designed and built. We could just
imagine how all those millions of emigrants must have felt after
rough journeys at sea, some lasting many weeks must have felt seeing her
welcome them to their new land.
ALL IN ALL A CLASSIC
ICON
SHE LIVED UP TO ALL OUR
EXPECTATIONS
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