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Maintaining Liberty: Story of a Statue
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in 1886. It was inspired by French politician Edouard de Laboulaye’s proposal that a great monument be made to honor America’s independence and the abolition of slavery. Laboulaye suggested France finance the statue while the United States pick the location and pay for the building of the pedestal.
French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue. The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. She holds a torch symbolizing progress. The seven rays on the diadem (the crown) form a halo representing the sun, the seven oceans and the seven continents. The left hand holds a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking law) upon which is inscribed the date of the Declaration of Independence. The statue rises over a broken chain, half hidden by the robes. Bartholdi modeled the face after his own mother.
In 1875, Laboulaye announced plans for the statue revealing its formal name “Liberty Enlightening the World.” France reacted positively, raising funds among the wealthy, working class and children. Support in the United States was less favorable. The Panic of 1873 caused an economic depression in America delaying construction of the statue and the Washington Monument. The New York Times reported, “No true patriot can countenance any such expenditures for bronze…
