Over New York Bay, rain falls, fog hides the horizon, and hundreds of ships pass on the water. On October 28, 1886, the city celebrates the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty - a monument that France gave to the United States as a sign of friendship and shared history.
The ceremony is held on Bedlow Island, now called Liberty Island. President Grover Cleveland officially accepts the statue on behalf of the American people. According to the Statue of Liberty National Park About a million people join the celebrations in the streets and on the waters of New York Bay, despite the bad weather.
A gift that is ten years late
The idea for the monument comes from the French political thinker and opponent of slavery Edouard de Laboulaye. He proposes the construction of a statue that would commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution and the ideals of freedom.
The project was entrusted to the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. The official title of the work is “Liberty Enlightening the World“. The statue was conceived for the centennial of the Declaration of Independence in 1876, but the construction, financing and preparation of the pedestal delayed the inauguration by ten years.
The French pay for the statue itself, while the Americans must provide the funds for the pedestal. When the campaign in the United States began to lose momentum, publisher Joseph Pulitzer appealed to his readers for donations. Eventually, thousands of small contributions helped complete the pedestal.
The structure was created with the participation of engineer Gustave Eiffel. Between 1875 and 1884, the statue was made in France, then disassembled and shipped to New York in over 200 crates. Workers reassembled it on the pedestal on Bedlow Island.
When the torch was not yet a symbol of immigration
On the day of its inauguration, the Statue of Liberty was presented to the public as a symbol of freedom, independence, and friendship between France and the United States. It later became one of the most recognizable symbols of immigration to America.
President Cleveland declared that "we will not forget that Liberty chose here her home, nor neglect her altar." His speech did not include the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, which is now an integral part of the monument's image. Written in 1883, it was placed on a slab in the pedestal only in 1903.
At 155 feet (46.05 m) tall, and with a pedestal nearly 300 feet (93 m), the statue is among the most impressive engineering and artistic projects of the 19th century. On October 28, 1886, Bartholdi himself released the French flag covering the face of the monument, and to the sound of cannons, whistles, and applause, New York City saw the entire figure for the first time.
The New York Women's Suffrage Association did not receive invitations to the ceremony because they were unaccompanied. They rented a boat and watched the unveiling from the water - a detail that reminds us that the symbol of freedom was erected in a society where freedom was not yet equal for all.
In 1924, the Statue of Liberty was declared a national monument. Today, its torch can still be seen over New York Bay, but its most memorable light remains the one that, on a rainy October 28, 1886, transformed a French gift into an American symbol.
Sources: apnews.com, history.com, smithsonianmag.com