Post by achebeautiful on Oct 28, 2006 15:24:35 GMT -5
"The Statue Of Liberty"
"Liberty Enlightening the World" , the official name for the statue, was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886, but it took 21 years to be transformed from an idea to a copper and steel statue gracing New York City's harbor.
According to the National Park Service's historical handbook, Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye first conceived of a monument celebrating the friendship between France and the United States. He was at a dinner near Versailles, and one of his dining companions was a young sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. De Laboulaye spearheaded the effort to create a monument, and Bartholdi soon began sketching ideas for what this monument should look like. Eventually, Bartholdi became the designer for the project, and he enlisted the great French engineer, Gustave Eiffel, to build the internal structure of the statue.
Construction on Lady Liberty began in 1875 in France. Supporters on both sides of the Atlantic struggled to raise funds for the statue's creation and to build the pedestal in New York. Congress authorized use of Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor for the site of the statue, but private financing had to be secured to construct the base. The lack of available funds to build the base actually slowed the pace of work on the statue in France.
The Statue of Liberty was completed in June of 1884, and it was officially presented to the U.S. on July 4, 1884. It was shipped in pieces to the U.S. in 1885 and reassembled in New York by 1886. Thus, the statue took 9 years to build and was finally opened 11 years after it was begun.
Liberty may have been slow to fruition, but, as President Grover Cleveland said in his acceptance speech, "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."
"Liberty Enlightening the World" , the official name for the statue, was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886, but it took 21 years to be transformed from an idea to a copper and steel statue gracing New York City's harbor.
According to the National Park Service's historical handbook, Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye first conceived of a monument celebrating the friendship between France and the United States. He was at a dinner near Versailles, and one of his dining companions was a young sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. De Laboulaye spearheaded the effort to create a monument, and Bartholdi soon began sketching ideas for what this monument should look like. Eventually, Bartholdi became the designer for the project, and he enlisted the great French engineer, Gustave Eiffel, to build the internal structure of the statue.
Construction on Lady Liberty began in 1875 in France. Supporters on both sides of the Atlantic struggled to raise funds for the statue's creation and to build the pedestal in New York. Congress authorized use of Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor for the site of the statue, but private financing had to be secured to construct the base. The lack of available funds to build the base actually slowed the pace of work on the statue in France.
The Statue of Liberty was completed in June of 1884, and it was officially presented to the U.S. on July 4, 1884. It was shipped in pieces to the U.S. in 1885 and reassembled in New York by 1886. Thus, the statue took 9 years to build and was finally opened 11 years after it was begun.
Liberty may have been slow to fruition, but, as President Grover Cleveland said in his acceptance speech, "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."