The Statue of Liberty
Holding up that torch since 1886 · Keeper of the Harbour
She crossed the Atlantic in 1885 in 214 crates, a gift from the people of France. She shone copper-bright until salt air and rain turned her green.
The legend
She crossed the Atlantic in 1885 in 214 crates, 350 pieces packed aboard the French ship Isère, a gift from the people of France. Gustave Eiffel designed the iron skeleton inside her. At her 1886 unveiling she shone copper-bright; salt air and rain turned her green, a patina complete about twenty years later.
“I'd wave back at her from the ferry.”
Where it comes from
The idea came from Édouard de Laboulaye, who proposed a monument in 1865. The sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi named it Liberty Enlightening the World. Her tablet reads JULY IV MDCCLXXVI, the date of American independence, and her left foot rests on a broken chain and shackle. Her crown has seven rays and 25 windows.
America's share was the pedestal, designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Money ran short, and its planned height of 114 feet was cut to 89. Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, the World, then raised $102,000 from 120,000 donors by August 1885, 80 percent of it in sums under one dollar. In 1903 a plaque with Emma Lazarus's sonnet "The New Colossus" was added.
Where to see it
She stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, 93 metres from the ground to the tip of the torch. Ferries leave from The Battery in Manhattan and Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Crown tickets are limited and must be booked ahead; the climb from the pedestal is 162 steps on a narrow spiral stair, with no lift. The torch has been closed to visitors since 1916. The original was replaced in 1985 by a copy in 24-carat gold leaf. It now stands in the Statue of Liberty Museum, which opened on the island in May 2019; every ferry ticket includes entry.
In the game
The Statue of Liberty lowers her torch, just a little. She rocks on her pedestal but keeps the torch up. She bows her head and lowers the torch, still lit.
