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Statue Of Liberty, the backstory; the song; the beatles
"The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue has become an icon of freedom and of the United States.

Bartholdi was inspired by French law professor and politician Édouard René de Laboulaye, who commented in 1865 that any monument raised to American independence would properly be a joint project of the French and American peoples. Due to the troubled political situation in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the Americans provide the pedestal and the site. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 and in New York's Madison Square Park from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened due to lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the World started a drive for donations to complete the project that attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar. The statue was constructed in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland...
wikiencyclopedia

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SqurlyMurly

9/15/2012 6:30:04 PM

Her words rang true. She did, indeed, welcome many to the shores of America!

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Steve April

9/17/2012 5:47:43 PM

"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!"
--inscription by Emma Lazarus

hi muriel, glad to hear from you...

...initially the powers that be vetoed the inscription, thought it was too radical...

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Steve April

9/18/2012 9:04:05 PM

here's a song that might raise a smile...

a friend noted that the "cmon cmon" in "Statue of Liberty" may be inspired, referenced in the song. If so, subconscious, who knows???

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Stoneman

9/18/2012 10:26:09 PM

You always bring us some great historical information and I appreciate that Steve. Thanks so much!

Stoneman

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Steve April

9/20/2012 2:29:13 PM ---- Updated 9/20/2012 2:57:22 PM

always a pleasure, Stoneman. kudos your post on an earlier thread. hope you're feelin' better, send m'prayers your way. kudos...

here's the beatles helpin' george with "something in the way she moves..."

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