The Statue of Liberty

• The Statue of Liberty is one of the best known American landmarks. It was a gift to the United States from France to honor their alliance during the American Revolution on July 4, 1884 to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the American Revolution. It was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

Liberty Island

• The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island, which was once known as Bedloe's Island.

• Liberty Island is located in the New York harbor near Ellis Island. The statue welcomed new immigrants to the United States who entered the country through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.

The Designers

• The Statue of Liberty was designed by the French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi.

• The figure was formed of copper sheets wrapped into an iron framework as part of a support system devised by the French civil engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.

• The pedestal was designed by the American architect Richard Morris Hunt.

Measurements of Lady Liberty

• Total weight of statue: 450,000 pounds (225 tons)

• Total height of the statue: 111 feet, 1 inch tall

Lady Liberty’s Shoe Size

• Length of sandal:

25'-0"

• US Women's Shoe Size based on standard formula: 879

• (Length (inches)= 7.333 + ({[US Women's Size]-1}/3)

Lady Liberty’s Crown

7 Spikes in the Crown represent:

- Either Seven Seas:   Arctic, Antarctic, North & South Atlantic, North

& South Pacific, Indian.- Or Seven Continents:   North and South America, Europe, Asia,

Africa, Antarctica, Australia

How many steps would it take to get to the top?

• Steps to crown: 354 steps (22 stories). This height is not recommended for those with health problems.

• Steps from ground to top of pedestal: 192

“The New Colossus”

• Originally conceived as a gesture of international friendship, the statue has become a global symbol of freedom.

• Marking the arrival of millions of immigrants to the U.S.

• In 1903 the sonnet “The New Colossus” by the U.S. poet Emma Lazarus was inscribed at the main entrance to the pedestal.

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-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Emma Lazarus

Can you go inside the statue?• The Statue has been closed since September 11, 2001 when the

World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists, the longest closure in its history, exceeding the period of closure for the two-year restoration in 1986.

• It reopened August 3, 2004. Visitors are only allowed to climb the statue's 154-foot-tall pedestal and the crown remains closed.