Page 245 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

Washington, D.C. •

ATLANTIC
OCEAN
GULF OF
MEXICO

BUILDING THE LADY
In his Parisian workshop, the sculptor Frederic
-< Restora lion Celebration
On July 4, 1986, after a $100 Auguste Bartholdi began by creating four scale
million clean-up, the statue models, the largest at one-fourth the actual
was unveiled. The $2 million size. This was divided into 300 plaster sections,
fireworks display was the and each section was then enlarged to full size.
largest ever seen in America.
A mold of laminated wood was made from
each of these sections, and sheets of copper
were pounded into the molds to a thickness
of just 0. 1 inch (2. 5 mm). In all, 350 sheets
were connected with 2 -inch (50-m m) wide
v Statue construction
workshop in France,<. 1882 iron straps. The straps acted like springs, which
allowed the surface to flex in high winds or
extremes of temperature. The statue arrived in
New York packed in more than 200 crates and
was attached to the frame using an estimated
300,000 copper rivets.

FUNDRAISING
Although the French contributed to the cost of
the statue, early on in the pi an it was decided
that funds for the pedestal would come from
the US. Since fundraisi ng was going slowly, the
media baron Joseph Pulitzer used the editorial
clout of his newspaper, The Wrxld, to criticize
the wealthy for withholding their financial
support and the middle class for relying on the
A From Her Toes to Her Torch wealthy. He pointed out that the statue was a
Three hundred molded copper gift to the entire US and attacked those who
sheets riveted together make up were not supporting it on the grounds that
Lady liberty.
it was a New York project. Soon, the whole
nation was involved, and the funds were raised.

THE MUSEUM
The Statue of Liberty Museum is located in
the base of the structure. The Torch Exhibit in
the lobby holds the original 1886 torch. The
Statue of Liberty Exhibit on the pedestal's
second level, is a biography of Lady Liberty and
A Making the Hand an examination of the ideals for which she
To create the copper shell, stands. Seven displays, featuring artifacts,
the hand was first made photographs, videos, and oral histories, focus
in plaster, then in wood.
on her history. Another area has sections on her
KEY DATES A A Model Figure symbolism, exploring ideas such as "Mother of
A series of graduated scale Exiles" and "The Statue in Popular Culture."
1865 1876 1886 1986
models en a bled Bartholdi to There is also a display of full-seale models of
Bartholdi has the idea Bartholdi is given the The Statue of The Statue of Liberty build the largest metal statue Liberty's face and left foot (a model figure).
of building a tribute commissbn to create Liberty is dedicated; is reopened after ever constructed.
to Liberty in America. the Statue of Liberty. Bartholdi himself extensive restoration. A bronze plaque bearing the text of Emma
unveils the face. Lazarus's famous sonnet, The New Colossus,
was added to the pedestal in the early 1900s.