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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Pay

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Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren boge Obam. Here these iconic words are

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Speaker 1: etched into a bronze plaque located in the pedestal of

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Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty. Give me your tired, your poor,

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Speaker 1: your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse

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Speaker 1: of your teeming shore. Send these the homeless tempest tossed

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Speaker 1: to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

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Speaker 1: The words are part of the New Colossus, the Sonnet

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Speaker 1: written in three by fifth generation American Jew M. A. Lazarus.

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Speaker 1: She wrote the New Colossus to help raise money for

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Speaker 1: the pedestal of the new statue at the request of

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Speaker 1: a friend. Lazarus, at that time was also known for

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Speaker 1: working with East European Jewish refugees, and new a poem

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Speaker 1: of such significance could bring attention to the plight of

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Speaker 1: refugees coming to America. But today Lazarus's words and the

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Speaker 1: original intention behind the Sonnet have raised new questions about

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Speaker 1: the meaning of the Statue of Liberty and what it represents.

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Speaker 1: So how did Lady Liberty come to the US and

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Speaker 1: what does this copper statue that's stood in New York

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Speaker 1: Harbor for so many decades symbolize is she still really

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Speaker 1: a beacon of freedom? To millions around the world. The

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Speaker 1: Statue of Liberty has become such a legendary representation of

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Speaker 1: New York City and America itself, it's hard to imagine

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Speaker 1: a time before it found a place in the skyline.

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Speaker 1: It all began in the eighteen sixties when French poet

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Speaker 1: and anti slavery activist Eduard de la Boulay proposed the

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Speaker 1: idea of a post Civil War commemoration of America's newfound

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Speaker 1: freedoms and democracy. He believed France should give a great

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Speaker 1: monument as a gift to the United States to celebrate

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Speaker 1: both the Union's victory in the Civil War and the

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Speaker 1: abolition of slavery. The idea resonated with a young French

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Speaker 1: sculptor named Frederic August bartle Dy, who had been experimenting

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Speaker 1: with large scale works. Barkele Dy started drafting designs, and

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Speaker 1: the original goal was to complete the ambitious artistic endeavor

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Speaker 1: by eighteen seventy six, to mark the centennial of the

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Speaker 1: American Declaration of Independence. The she was set to represent

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Speaker 1: the goodwill between America and France. There was a little

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Speaker 1: financial snag though well a big financial snag in both

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Speaker 1: participating nations. To raise the necessary funds for construction, the

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Speaker 1: French government introduced everything from public fees to a fundraising lottery,

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Speaker 1: and the United States held auctions and benefit theatrical events,

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Speaker 1: and Lazarus penned the new Colosses for the Art and

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Speaker 1: Literary auction to help generate money for the pedestal. While

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Speaker 1: all this was taking place, bartol D recruited an experienced

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Speaker 1: engineer to help troubleshoot structural issues with the massive sculpture enter,

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Speaker 1: Alexander Gustav Eiffel and the man responsible for another internationally

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Speaker 1: recognized architectural wonder, the Eiffel Tower. Together with bartl D,

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Speaker 1: Eiffel helped design the four hundred and fifty thousand pounds

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Speaker 1: structure that's about two hundred thousand kilograms, and specifically had

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Speaker 1: a hand in planning out the iron pylon and secondary

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Speaker 1: scaltal framework. The Statue of Liberty was finally completed in

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Speaker 1: France in July of eighty four and arrived in three

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty individual pieces packed in two hundred and

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Speaker 1: fourteen crates. In New York Harbor in June of eight five,

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Speaker 1: ten years after her original projected debut, The Statue of

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Speaker 1: Liberty became an official New York City icon, and President

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Speaker 1: Grover Cleveland oversaw the official dedication ceremony on October eighteen,

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Speaker 1: eighty six. Lady Liberty herself has a full and proper name,

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Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty, Enlightening the World. The statue's face

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Speaker 1: was apparently inspired by the face of Berkeld's mother. Made

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Speaker 1: from iron steel and three hundred layers of hand hammered copper,

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Speaker 1: weighing thirty one tons, Lady Liberty herself stands approximately a

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Speaker 1: hundred and eleven feet that's thirty four meters tall. She

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Speaker 1: reaches an astounding three hundred five ft or ninety three

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Speaker 1: ms if you take her pedestal and torch into account,

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Speaker 1: that's the equivalent height of a twenty two story building.

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Speaker 1: The copper coating her is three thirty seconds of an

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Speaker 1: inch thick or about two point five millimeters, which happens

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Speaker 1: to be the same thicknes as two American pennies placed together,

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Speaker 1: while the internal structure is comprised of cast iron and

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Speaker 1: stainless steel. As for her, signature green hue. That's due

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Speaker 1: to the natural oxidation of that copper coating. When the

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Speaker 1: statue was originally completed in eighteen eighty six, she had

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Speaker 1: more of a copper penny tinge, but over about three

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Speaker 1: decades the brown hue fully oxidized to form the sea

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Speaker 1: green color, otherwise known as a patina four. The statue

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Speaker 1: got to make over when her original torch was replaced

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Speaker 1: by a new copper one covered in twenty four carrot

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Speaker 1: gold leaf. The original torch is on display at the

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Speaker 1: monument's museum. While the Statue of Liberty emerged from a

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Speaker 1: desire to represent an alliance between America and France, its

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Speaker 1: core meaning is a mutual desire for freedom liberty for

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Speaker 1: all people all over the world. It's no accident that

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Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty was placed to face southeast. From

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Speaker 1: that vantage point, she makes a perfect welcoming symbol for

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Speaker 1: visitors and immigrants from her home on Liberty Island. The

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Speaker 1: seven pointed crown on her head symbolizes the seven continents,

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Speaker 1: seven seas, and the broken shackles at her feet represent

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Speaker 1: freedom from oppression. Lady Liberty possesses a few other symbols

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Speaker 1: as well, She's holding a tablet in her left hand

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Speaker 1: inscribed with the date July four, seventeen seventy six, the

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Speaker 1: date of American independence, written in Roman numerals, and that

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Speaker 1: giant torch in her right hand. It's meant to represent enlightenment,

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Speaker 1: a fitting accessory for liberty enlightening the world. As for

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Speaker 1: the Lazarus poem, some history experts, like Robert J. McNamara

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Speaker 1: believe that while bart Goldie had originally envisioned Lady Liberty

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Speaker 1: as a symbol of America exuding its own freedom, the

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Speaker 1: new colossus represented America as a refuge for oppressed people

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Speaker 1: seeking liberty, and an understanding by people born as American

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Speaker 1: citizens that had we been born elsewhere, we might be

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Speaker 1: similarly seeking liberty from oppression and suffering. While there may

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Speaker 1: be countless interpretations, dissections, and misreadings of Lady Liberty's many

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Speaker 1: possible meanings, one thing is for sure. She has indeed

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Speaker 1: served as america One woman welcome committee for well over

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Speaker 1: a century. When the US government opened a federal immigration

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Speaker 1: station on Ellis Island in eight two, about twelve million

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Speaker 1: immigrants were eventually processed there before receiving permission to enter

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Speaker 1: the country. All of whom were greeted by the site

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Speaker 1: of the Statue of Liberty nearby. Today, the Statue of

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Speaker 1: Liberty remains a major attraction for citizens and visitors from

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Speaker 1: all over the world. Approximately four point five million people

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Speaker 1: make the pilgrimage to see her every year. One of

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Speaker 1: the most popular attractions is climbing up to her crown,

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Speaker 1: which has twenty five windows overlooking New York City and

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Speaker 1: the Harbor. It's a strenuous climb up a tight spiral staircase,

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Speaker 1: but visitors are rewarded with panoramic views of Brooklyn as

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Speaker 1: well as Gustav's original supporting iron and steel framework. The

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Speaker 1: American Jewish Historical Society is leading a three year initiative

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Speaker 1: called the mL Lazarus Project, which teaches students about the

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Speaker 1: woman who penned the new colossus. Part of the project

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Speaker 1: as a nationwide contest calling for new poems about the statue.

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Speaker 1: Winners will be announced in May of To learn more,

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Speaker 1: go to a j h S dot org. Today's episode

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Speaker 1: was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Clang.

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Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works.

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Speaker 1: For more in this and lots of other grand topics,

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Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com, and

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