Statue of Liberty’s 125th Anniversary Is Celebrated
October 28, 2011
Fireworks, a flotilla of ships, and a reading of Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” were among the events scheduled for a celebration on October 28, 2011, to mark the 125th anniversary of the dedication of Statue of Liberty. Lazarus’s poem includes the famous lines, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… .” In addition, five webcams attached to Lady Liberty’s torch were to begin streaming views of New York City and New Jersey unseen by anyone except maintenance crews since the torch was closed to tourists in 1916. From the 1890′s to the 1920′s, millions of immigrants passed the Statue of Liberty as they sailed into New York Harbor to begin lives as Americans.
The Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and a beacon of freedom for immigrants, stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. George Goodwin, Monkmeyer
The statue’s complete name is Liberty Enlightening the World. It was given to the people of the United States by the people of France in 1884 as an expression of friendship and of the ideal of liberty shared by both peoples. French citizens donated the money to build the statue, and people in the United States raised the funds to construct the foundation and the pedestal (base). The French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue and chose its site. Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer who later built the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, designed the iron framework that supports the statue’s copper covering. Construction was completed in April 1886. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
On October 29, 2011, the interior spaces of the statue will be closed for a year-long renovation project. The $27.25-million project to make the interior safer and more accessible will include installing improved stairways and upgrading electrical and fire-safety systems, and elevators. Liberty Island, on which the statue stands, will remain open, as will the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. The statue underwent a series of major repairs in 1986. About 3.5 million people visit the Statue of Liberty each year.
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