Statue of Liberty, New York

We went to New York!
We went to New York, so we did one of the things millions of tourists have done before us, we visited the Statue of Liberty.

It’s big. It’s green. Or is it aquamarine? I have no idea, my eyesight is bad.
Hey-hum, the exact, or correct, colour is not important. At least I don’t think it’s important.
It is big though. Having said that, it looks a lot smaller the further away from it you are. ;d

So, we visited the Statue of Liberty. I wasn’t particularly keen in seeing it, but Richard wanted to, so I went along with him.
Is it bad that I would have been quite content to visit New York and not bother to go and see the Statue of Liberty, or the giant green gal as I like to think of her. No, I don’t think it is. And anyway, it’s irrelevant as I did go and see her.
My preference for not wanting visiting Lady Liberty had nothing to do with her. It was more to do with the fact that having recently nearly drowned I was not eager to cross water. Thankfully Richard is a hard taskmaster, he made me video the ferry ride over to Liberty Island, and if there’s anything I dislike more than water it’s shooting video, so my mind was completely distracted from the terrifying fact that I was at sea, and completely focused on my videographer duties. Shame that my focus didn’t extend to the video.

I’m sure you already know but just in case you don’t here’s a few facts about the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to America over 125 years ago, in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution
She was the first thing that many of the immigrants arriving in the United States of America during the late 19th and early 20th century would have seen as they entered the waters surrounding her.
She is called the Satue of Liberty now, but originally she was called Liberty Enlightening the World. For newcomers to America she’s said to be a symbol of hope and freedom, representing their new home and hopefully a better life. Arriving broke and from awful former lives the Statue of Liberty offered immigrants a chance for change in a new land.

The Statue of Liberty was designed by a French sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. It was funded completely through donations from the French people
Initially he designed smaller scale working models using wood, and then along with his crew he constructed the full-size statue in Paris, France.
On the 4th of July 1884 the 151-foot-tall, 225-ton Statue of Liberty was delivered to the American Ambassador in Paris.

The decision to place the Statue of Liberty where it stands today was made by Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. He chose Bedloe’s Island, which was later renamed Liberty Island
He is the famous Union leader during the U.S. Civil War who conducted his ‘March to the sea’ to help end the war.

The Statue of Liberty was once a fully functioning lighthouse because of U.S. President Grover Cleveland, who in 1886 ordered that the statue serve as a lighthouse. It reportedly took several failed attempts before they finally succeeded in lighting the electric arc lights. Electricity was a relatively new technology at that time. Once the electric problems had been resolved the electric arc lights were lit and visible from a distance of 24 miles away.
The Statue of Liberty functioned as a lighthouse for the next 16 years, until the 1st of March 1902.

The Statue of Liberty was the tallest iron built structure ever erected. When the statue was assembled in 1886, Lady Liberty was the tallest iron structure ever built.
The Statue of Liberty is just over 305 feet high from the ground to the tip of her torch. There are 354 steps inside the statue, its pedestal and 25 viewing windows in the crown. There are seven rays on the Statue of Liberty’s crown, symbolising the seven seas and seven continents. Lady Liberty holds a tablet in her left hand inscribed with ‘July 4, 1776′ in Roman numerals.
The exterior of the statue is clad with copper sheets, which measure just 3/32ths of an inch, with an iron infrastructure was used to create the framework of the statue.
The interior framework was created by Gustave Eiffel, who is possibly more famous for his later creation, the Eiffel Tower in Paris France.

According to records in 1906 the U.S. Congress voted to appropriate $62,000 to paint the Statue of Liberty. The original copper had begun to develop its blue-green patina, and several politicians disliked the colour change. But Lady Liberty didn’t was saved from a lick of paint because of the public outcry.

The Statue of Liberty flame has been changed three times. Auguste Bartholdi’s original design of the flame was for it to be constructed using copper and then covered in gold. Apparently it was hoped that this would make it a better navigational beacon. The first change to be considered was the portholes which would make it appear to be lit from within. When that idea failed, Gutzon Borglum, who later designed and created Mount Rushmore, made the second change by adding the glass panels and copper framing. This design was not a success either as the panels leaked which caused further deterioration inside the statue. Finally, as part of the 1986 restoration project, Auguste Bartholdi’s original flame design was recreated and installed, and is what we see today.

Lady Liberty stands amidst broken shackles. Because of the placement of the statue, and the height of the pedestal, visitors are unable to see Lady Liberty’s feet.
The broken shackle and chains represent symbolic freedom from oppression.

I doubt that all of the immigrants who arrived at Liberty Island all those years ago had their dreams of a new and better life granted. But for the fortunate ones, setting eyes on the Statue of Liberty for the very first time must have been the start of better days and years to come.
America is a nation of immigrants with over 300 million people calling it home.
With the exception of a sadly small number of Native Americans, every single one of them is either an immigrant or their descendants we’re immigrants.

The Statue of Liberty National Monument has stood in New York Harbour for almost 125 years (her official birthday is on the 28th of October).

In 1984, the United Nations designated the Statue of Liberty as a World Heritage Site and a restoration effort began. On the 5th of July 1986 the newly restored Statue re-opened to the public during Liberty Weekend, which celebrated her centennial.

A sonnet by poet Emma Lazarus is inscribed in bronze at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The sonnet, titled ‘The New Colossus’, reads ~

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-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

by Emma Lazarus, New York City, 1883

And that is definitely more than enough information about the giant green gal, aka the Statue of Liberty for this blog post.
Please note that I said information, not correct information.
I’m pleased Richard made me go and visit the Statue of Liberty, we had a pleasant morning wandering round Liberty Island, and thankfully we both survived the sea. ;o

Video of the Statue of Liberty

Click here to view the embedded video.

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