In the mid-19th century, the people of France set out to create a monumental gift to the United States to celebrate liberty and friendship: the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World". The statue, designed by the French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was completed in
. Before it was fully assembled, parts of it did a lot of travelling: its right arm and torch crossed the Atlantic
times - for display in Philadelphia and New York and back to Paris - to raise funds and publicity.
The finished statue was presented to Levi P. Morton, the U.S. Minister to France, in Paris on 4 July
. It was then dismantled into
pieces, packed in
crates and shipped to New York aboard the French navy ship Isère.
The Statue of Liberty was officially unveiled by President Grover Cleveland on 28 October
, at a time when the American flag had only
stars. A few years later, in
, Ellis Island opened nearby, welcoming millions of immigrants to the New World.
The full height of the Statue of Liberty from the ground to the tip of her torch is
feet. Her robe flares out around a waist of
feet, and one of her massive index fingers stretches
feet. Beneath her copper skin is a framework supported by
tonnes of steel.
Visitors can climb
steps from the base to her crown, which has
windows representing gemstones found around the world. The crown also bears
rays, symbolising the continents and the seas. To reach the torch, there's a narrow ladder with
rungs.
On 15 October
, the Statue of Liberty was officially declared a National Monument. It still stands tall in New York Harbour, a universal symbol of freedom and welcome.
