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The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by France
in 1886. The idea for the gift was conceived at a dinner party
in 1865. She was sculpted by Frederic Bartholdi, and Gustave
Eiffel served as the structural engineer. It was fabricated using
the Repousse Process and was completed in 1884. The statue was
presented to the U.S. on July 4, 1884 and was dismantled and
shipped to America in early 1885 on the French frigate "Isere".
There were 214 crates holding 350 pieces on the journey across
the Atlantic.
On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland officially
accepted the Statue saying: "We will not forget that liberty
here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."
It is ironic that it was President Cleveland who vetoed funding
for the pedestal in 1884, making private fundraising necessary.
The Statue of Liberty was designated a National Monument on October
15, 1924.
Initially, visitors could go up the arm to the torch, but
the arm was closed to visitors in 1916. On July 30, 1916, during
World War I, German saboteurs blew up a cache of dynamite at
nearby Black Tom Wharf in New Jersey. The explosion did extensive
structural damage to the buildings on Ellis Island, and popped
some bolts out of the Statue of Liberty's right arm. Officials
closed the monument for about a week. When it re-opened and ever
since that time, the arm has been off limits to tourists. |