The Statue of Liberty

Sometimes called "Modern Colossus," the statue that immigrants longed to see more than anything else is better known as the Statue of Liberty.

The Colossus of Rhodes

• Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World• Rhodes was a Greek city-state, famous for its trading port• The statue depicted Apollo, the sun god and protector of Rhodes• Stood at the entrance to harbor, roughly 105 feet high, welcoming merchant ships

• The Colossus of Rhodes was made of bronze, entirely from melted-down weapons of the Macedonian army that attacked the island with a massive amount of troops and was still repelled—a great victory for Rhodes• Only stood about 50 years (approx. 280 to 224 BCE); destroyed by earthquake

The design, posture and dimensions of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor are based on what the Colossus was thought by engineers in the late 19th century to have looked like.

The Statue of Liberty, designed by Frederic Bartholdi was a gift to the United States from the people of France. (Literally, money to make it came from donations from French citizens.) The French ship "Isere" transported the Statue of Liberty's 300 copper pieces packed in 214 crates to America. Although the ship nearly sank in rough seas, it arrived in New York on June 17, 1885. The Statue's parts remained unassembled for nearly a year until the pedestal was completed in 1886.

• The Statue of Liberty still stands at entrance to New York City harbor, 151 feet high.

• It depicts woman in Roman dress holding torch and tablet.

• It is made of copper (hollow.)

• It was given to pay homage to the freedoms that the U.S. promised to its citizens and to celebrate friendship between U.S. and France.

Original torch of Statue of Liberty Current torch of Statue of Liberty

The tablet held by Lady Liberty.

Engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty are the well-known lines of a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus:

"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!"