| Building Overview | Game Strategies | History |
The Statue of Liberty (officially Liberty Enlightening the World, or La liberté éclairant le monde in French) was a gift from France to the United States to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. Arriving at the entrance of New York harbor on June 19, 1884, the Statue of Liberty has proudly stood there ever since.
On February 18, 1879, the French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) earned US Patent #11,023 for a "Design for a Statue." This statue, "Liberty Enlightening the World," would become one of the most famous monuments of world history. At a dinner party in 1865, Bartholdi and his host, historian Edouard-René de Laboulaye, had conceived the idea of France giving the US a monument for its Centennial of 1876. Many people believed Charlotte Bartholdi, the sculptor's mother was the model for the statue.
The Statue arrived at its permanent home at Bedloe's Island aboard the French frigate Isére. The statue stands nearly 150 feet tall and is a woman with her arm held high with a lit torch. In her other hand she is holding a tablet inscribed "July IV, MDCCLXXVI". It was designed by the French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) and erected according to plans by Gustave Eiffel.
In 1903 an inscription was added on the inside which contains the poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. The widely quoted poem reads, in part:
- 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!
It was designated as a national monument in 1924.