National Historic Landmark- The Statue of Liberty
Constructing the Statue
In 1865, a French political intellectual and anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboulaye proposed that a statue representing liberty be built for the United States. This monument would honor the United States' centennial of independence and the friendship with France. French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi supported Laboulaye's idea and in 1870 began designing the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World."
While Bartholdi was designing the Statue, he also took a trip to the United States in 1871. During the trip, Bartholdi selected Bedloe's Island as the site for the Statue. Although the island was small, it was visible to every ship entering New York Harbor, which Bartholdi viewed as the "gateway to America."
In 1876, French artisans and craftsmen began constructing the Statue in France under Bartholdi's direction. The arm holding the torch was completed in 1876 and shown at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The head and shoulders were completed in 1878 and displayed at the Paris Universal Exposition. The entire Statue was completed and assembled in Paris between 1881 and 1884. Also in 1884, construction on the pedestal began in the United States.
After the Statue was presented to Levi P Morton, the U.S. minister to France, on July 4, 1884 in Paris, it was disassembled and shipped to the United States aboard the French Navy ship, Isère. The Statue arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885, and was met with great fanfare. Unfortunately, the pedestal for the Statue was not yet complete and the entire structure was not reassembled on Bedloe's Island until 1886.
Once the pedestal was completed in 1886, the Statue was reassembled with surprising speed by a fearless construction crew - many of whom were new immigrants. The first piece of the Statue to be reconstructed was Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel's iron framework. The rest of the Statue's elements followed without the use of scaffolding - all construction materials were hoisted up by steam driven cranes and derricks. In order to sculpt the Statue's skin Eiffel used the repoussé technique developed by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. This technique was the process of molding light-weight copper sheets by hammering them onto the Statue's hallowed wooden framework. The last section to be completed was the Statue of Liberty's face which remained veiled until the Statue's dedication. Although Fort Wood remained on Bedloe's Island, it was not an obstacle in the design, construction, or reassembly of the Statue of Liberty. Instead, the star-shaped structure became a part of the Statue's base - the pedestal sits within its walls.
On October 28, 1886, the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" was officially unveiled. The day's wet and foggy weather did not stop some one million New Yorkers from turning out to cheer for The Statue of Liberty. Parades on land and sea honored the Statue while flags and music filled the air and the official dedication took place beneath the colossus "glistening with rain." When it was time for Bartholdi to release the tricolor French flag that veiled Liberty's face, a roar of guns, whistles, and applause sounded.
A Changing Landscape
At the time of its dedication in 1886, President Grover Cleveland placed the Statue of Liberty under the administration of the U.S. Lighthouse Board, since it was categorized as a federal lighthouse. Although the Statue's torch had been electrified for use as a lighthouse in 1886, the Statue had not been designed for this purpose and was not very effective. In 1901, the Statue was transferred to the U.S. Department of War.
When the National Park Service was granted control of the island in 1937, they decided to redesign it so that the island's landscape complimented the Statue of Liberty. This was the first time that the Statue and Bedloe's Island would be pulled together into a unified design. Norman T. Newton, a landscape architect for the National Park Service, created a master plan that would transform Bedloe's Island. Newton's plan was intended to attract visitors to the island and provide a proper setting for the Statue, now a national monument. Newton's plans called for army buildings to be demolished and for lawns and promenades to be created in their place. The intent of this plan was to heighten the appeal of the island and provide a beautiful backdrop for the Statue.
In the spring of 1937, several New Deal programs, including the Public Works Administration (or PWA), under the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, enabled the National Park Service to begin implementing Norman T. Newton's master plan. In 1939 the National Park Service began refurbishing both the Statue and additional structures on the island. Work continued on the island until the beginning of World War II. When the United States entered the war in 1941, resources were diverted to the war effort from the public works projects and work on the island halted. In 1948, following public complaints about the shabby condition on the island, Congress appropriated $110,000 to the Statue of Liberty. With renewed funding, workers tore down the abandoned and dilapidated army structures, planted trees and paved pathways.
Work on the island was completed by 1957. The renovation marked a turning point for Bedloe's Island because it transformed the island into a park. To commemorate this event, Bedloe's Island was renamed Liberty Island in 1956 through a joint resolution in Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Restoring the Statue
n 1982, four years before the Statue's centennial anniversary, President Ronald Reagan appointed Lee Iacocca, the Chairman of Chrysler Corporation, to head the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation. The Foundation was created to lead the private sector effort and raise the funds for the renovation and preservation of the Statue for its centennial in 1986. The Foundation worked with the National Park Service to plan, oversee, and implement this restoration.
A team of French and American architects, engineers, and conservators came together to determine what was needed to ensure the Statue's preservation into the next century. In 1984, scaffolding was erected around the exterior of the Statue and construction began on the interior.
Workers repaired holes in the copper skin and removed layers of paint from the interior of the copper skin and internal iron structure. They replaced the rusting iron armature bars (which joined the copper skin to the Statue's internal skeleton) with stainless steel bars. The flame and upper portion of the torch had been severely damaged by water and was replaced with an exact replica of Bartholdi's original torch. The torch was gilded according to Bartholdi's original plans.
The restoration was completed in 1986 and the Statue's centennial was celebrated on July 4 with fireworks and fanfare. On July 5th, a new Statue of Liberty exhibit opened in the base of the pedestal.
