The Statue of Liberty is a globally recognized symbol of the United States. However, the origins of this monumental structure are less known, and intriguingly, Lady Liberty was not always destined for New York Harbor.
The sculptor behind the statue, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, was born in Colmar, France, in 1834. His inspiration for the colossal statue came during a trip to Egypt with a group of French cultural ambassadors, where he was awed by the monuments at Abu Simbel. The towering figures at the temple influenced Bartholdi to work on a monumental scale. He began designing a structure to stand at the entrance of the Suez Canal, a 120-mile-long (193-km-long) artificial waterway providing a crucial trade route between Europe and Asia.
Bartholdi envisioned a colossal statue representing Egypt, featuring a veiled woman adorned in robes and raising a torch. The intended name for the neoclassical structure was "Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia," symbolizing Egypt's industrial progress. However, the expensive and lengthy construction of the Suez Canal led Isma'il Pasha, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, to reject Bartholdi’s proposal.
Instead, a 180-foot-tall (55-m-tall) lighthouse was built at Port Said, and Bartholdi turned his sights to America. Bartholdi’s friend Édouard de Laboulaye, a prominent French political thinker and abolitionist, wanted to celebrate the Union victory in the U.S. Civil War and promote the cause of democracy in France. Bartholdi revised his earlier statue design into "Liberty Enlightening the World," which was ultimately dedicated in 1886. The gift also celebrated the alliance between France and the United States during the American Revolution.
From the Suez Canal to New York Harbor:
- The Statue of Liberty stands 305 feet (93 m) tall and is partly modeled on Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
- France was responsible for raising funds for the statue itself, while the United States raised money for its pedestal.
- The statue was first assembled in Paris, then taken apart and shipped to the U.S. where it took four months to reassemble before being installed in New York Harbor.
