Landmark to learn the story behind the gift from france which was unveiled october 28, 1886 after 21 years of fundraising and construction. Welcome to the statue of Liberty National monument. I am from jacksonville, florida. Folks, i have a great job. I have been worth working with the National Park service been all9 and i have over the United States. I got my start at in alaska at the klondike park and a few summers out there. Then i went to jacksonville where i worked in a small park for Caroline National memorial and i went to the outer banks of North Carolina and work at our nations First National he sure, Cape Hatteras national seashore. And then i moved north to new york city and i have been working here at the statue of liberty and ellis island for seven years now. I have a great job. Specialto protect these places not only for today. We want to leave them unimpaired for future generations. Here we are at the statue of liberty, our nations most famous national monument. A gift from the people of france. Given to us, the people of this United States in 1886. Friendship,te our to commemorate our democracy. You folks know that the statue has become much more than a gift of friendship. Today, she is the most recognized symbol in the world. Freedom, hope, liberty, change. The idea of what the statue represents. It grows, it evil, it changes. Sheare a big part of what has become today. She is all over the place. You have seen her on tv and in the movies. When you look up to this wonderful work of art and see her in person, that is what it is all about. She is still aweinspiring. We are going to head around the corner to talk about the three gentlemen from france who were the most influential in giving us this wonderful gift. We are now heading behind the statue to our Sculpture Garden paying tribute not only to the people who have donated money for the restoration of the statue and ellis island but for these three gentlemen. In the summer of 1865 at the end of the civil war, the United States just survived its first major test of its own democracy. Believe it or not, they are very excited about this in france. They are gearing for their own democracy. Who iss a gentleman fascinated with american politics. He is writing textbooks on American History. And he is a leader of this movement. A dinner in the summer of 1865 and he proposes an idea let us give the people of the United States a gift from us, the people of france to commemorate our friendship, to commemorate their democracy. Luckily for him, there is a young sculptor at this dinner. Is already wellknown in france for building large monuments but he is a dreamer. He wants to do something really, really big. Something to be remembered for. He had been to egypt and had saying and had seen the pyramids and had done research on the colossus of rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the world. He was hired to do a similar project at the mouth of the suez canal but it never came to fruition but he already had an idea of a Woman Holding a torch representing enlightenment for the entire world. This would take some time. No computers and no cell phones in 1865. He is able to make his first visit to the United States in the early 1870s. He enters the mouth of the new york harbor and he sees this abandoned island. With ford would build for the war of 1812. There was not a lot going on the island at the time but it was a busy day in the harbor. He had a vision of a statue on top of a pedestal where it could be viewed for miles around. It was a vision that never left him. He continued on his trip. He is here to scout for location scout for locations. He is here to drum up support and raise funds. Isis in washington, d. C. And meeting with the president , you as grant. He is in philadelphia and boston. He takes a hard look at philadelphia and boston because that is where they thought the statue of liberty would be placed. He is meeting with local politicians and artists. He is able to drum up enough support and they form a unit called the francoamerican union. The people of france would raise the funds to construct the statue. The people in the United States would raise the funds to construct the pedestal. In his hotel, he made his final drawing. The title of the drawing was liberty enlightening the world. He always had a grasp of the Bigger Picture. Yes, this is a gift from france to the United States but it is he that wants to build a monument of democracy for the entire world. Hold on to that thought. We will talk a lot more about him and how he accomplishes this when we get closer to the front of the statue. The third individual, and certainly the most famous is eiffel of the eye full power fame. Several years prior to the construction of the eiffel tower, he designed the interior engineering for the statue of liberty. If you look up into the statue, you will see what looks like a mini eiffel tower. This serves as a framework and the framework has iron bars that reach out and connect to the skin. The skin is very then. Copper and it is two pennies put together. Along the skin are armature bars and it gives the statue the flexibility that she needs. She can move and sway with the wind. Duecan expand or contract to the heat or cold. All of the Energy Transfers from the armature bars through the framework to the top of the pedestal. And the statue of liberty is literally tied down into place. There are 16 metal tension rods. They tied her down and hold her in place. That Energy Continues through the pedestal, all the way down the 65 feet of bedrock. 56 Million Pounds of concrete all the way down to 65 feet of bedrock. But would not happen theoretically if the statue were to tip over, the whole island would have to tip over. That is how solid she is built into liberty island. We got the proof. She has been here for 130 years and has survived numerous storms throughout the years and certainly most recently hurricane sandy. The outside of the island was completely destroyed. The walkways, the railings. Ellis island was completely flooded. The statue of liberty herself did fine. I little water in the lobby and that was about it. About what is interesting gustav eiffel, today, he is known for the eiffel tower and i personally feel he should be just as famous for his Engineering Work here at the statue of liberty. He is amazing. Into of theis hand most famous monuments in the entire world. We are going to head to the front of the statue and we will talk about the sculptor and how he accomplished building this monument of democracy for the entire world. He has a grasp of the Bigger Picture and the way he accomplished this was his use of symbolism. He is a classical trained artist. There is symbolism throughout the statue of liberty. We begin with the torch. Once again, his name for the statue was liberty enlightening the world. The torch represents enlightenment for the entire world. We come down and she is wearing a crown. She is a goddess of liberty. The copper the goddess of libertas. Again, the world. Seven seas and seven continents. In her left arm is the tablet with a date of july 4, 1776. The signing of our declaration of independence. The start of our democracy. The tablet is in the shape of a keystone and classical athitecture, keystones are the top of arches. They hold the arches together. This is the designer telling us that it will be democracy that is going to hold the world together. We come down and she is wearing that robe. A roman goddess of libertas. And at the bottom of her feet are shackles. Her right foot is striding forward and she is breaking the shackles. She is leaving the old ways behind and she is striding towards the new ways. This represents liberation. She is moving forward. She is not facing new jersey. She is not facing new york city. She is walking forward and bringing these ideals of freedom, hope, freedom and change. Walking forward and welcoming the rest of the world. Of liberty does not stand still, it moves forward, it changes, it gave all. Evolves. Here we are in our museum. Layouts you the general and history and the construction of the statue. In his mind,ner, what he thought was going to be a big statue when he first visited the United States, he realized that everything was much bigger. Here you get an idea. This is a replica of the foot. Her giant feet. Over here is how they constructed the statue of liberty. He had a workshop in paris. Over 200 craftsmen helping him to construct the statue. They would start with a small, plaster model. They would build this plaster model to actual size. Constructhey would wooden forms as you see in the picture it there. There is the designer at the bottom. He paid fine attention to detail. They would construct wooden forms. They would flip them over. Sheet ofd lay a thin copper. And they would hammer out the form of the statue in a technique called. Here they are starting at one side. Here they are biggie they are building the plaster model bigger. Here is the actual size right here and they were building the actual wooden form. Here are the artist, the craftsmen. What thingsld like this anymore. It took 21 years from idea to reality and the first constructed the crown and the head. And then they had the crown, the head, and the george, they were constructed by 1876. They were brought here to the uniteds dates to raise funds. They went back to paris. The main body of the statue of liberty was constructed from 1881 to 1884. You have got gustav eiffel. The framework inside. They start constructing and adding pieces to where you then get the full statue. In 1884. She stood there in paris for about a year. Boxedthey broke her down, her up into 214 craig and they shipped her over here to the United States. Made it here to liberty island. They unloaded the crates. They hadlooked up and barely started work on the pedestal. It was Joseph Pulitzer of Pulitzer Prize fame. He was the owner of the new york world here in new york city. He said, donate any amount of money and i will print your name in the front page of the newspaper. Money poured in from all over the united days. Elementary school children. They raised money through their classes. Money raised up enough and we completed the pedestal in 1886. For the designer, his job was to construct the statue but he was also very involved in the construction of the pedestal. Designed thes hunt modernday pedestal that we see today. There were several different designs. He chose Richard Morris hunt. All of the granite came from connecticut. Here is a great depiction of how they put the statue together like a puzzle. This is exactly how they did it. Immigrants were swinging around on rope swings, putting the pieces together. They were carefully labeled. Together. Iveted there are 310 sections that make up the statue of liberty. They very and sizes. In sizes. Ry 21 years from idea to reality but it finally all came together on october 28, 1886. A huge dedication ceremony is planned and over 10,000 people are invited. However, one gender was not invited. How ironic is that. Women were not invited. The francoamerican union stated that hey, we cannot guarantee their safety. That was a bunch of hogwash. What they were really saying is that they did not want the statue of liberty just to be a associated with the women average movement. A group of women here in new york city, are very angry. They rent a boat. They circle the island and they shout in protest how can you build this woman to represent freedom and liberty and we do not even have the right to vote. If she were to come alive and walked down from that pedestal, she would not even be allowed on that island. Our first protest here on the grounds of the statue of liberty on day one, october 28, 1886. It was another 34 years until women were granted the right to vote. The 19th amendment in 1920. Folks, we have had any protests throughout the years. Most of these have been very peaceful. Some of them were not so peaceful. There has always been a security issue here at the statue of liberty, even before 9 11. I do not know the stories of all of the protests but there is one thing that ties them all together. Here if you were to stage a protest here or anywhere in the world and you were to build a replica of the statue of liberty which has been done many times of styrofoam, aluminum foil, rocks, and sticks. You do not need to hang banners or shout slogans. People know exactly what you want. You want freedom, liberty, and change. There is a wonderful depiction of the ceremony that took place in 1886. And00 people were invited on the island. Over a Million People were in Lower Manhattan for when are the first tickertape parades. People from all over the world came to witness the statue of liberty being unveiled to the entire world that day. In the beginning it was like wow, there is a colossal new statue from france. Let us go see it. It was amazing. America is growing and getting support from all over the world. Proud to make you more do what you are doing whether you have recently immigrated and come to america you could tell than america was starting to grow and you were a part of it. The statue started out as a gift of friendship, today, she and sheult evolved is most recognized symbol in the world. In the early 1900s, during the immigration movement, for the overcrowded roads that sailed for a couple of weeks at a time. What was the first thing that they saw that told them they had made it to the United States of america . It was the statue of liberty. Wrote her sonnet if me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That has helped the statue become an emblem for the pursuit of the american dream. Replica of the statue face. The face is based on that of his mother. Come in,ors, as they they get to touch and feel and they get a sense of how thin the copper is right behind here. Two pennies put together. Build to move and sway due to the winds. And to expand or contract due to the heat or cold. We are here inside the lobby of the statue of liberty. We are standing next to the original torch. Lady liberty held this torch were about 100 years. Solid copperhe was like the rest of the statue. When we received this wonderful gift, we decided to cut into the george, add glass plates and light bulbs in an effort to get it to be luminous at night. Unfortunately, we just hope a bunch of holes in it and she leaked water for 100 years. The sculptor said hey, it is your statue, but please, do not cut into it, do not use lightbulbs, just guilt gild it somehow. 1986, scaffolding covered the entire statue. We replaced the armature bars and now they are stainless steel. Movement toled the restore the statue of liberty. A good portion of that money went to the restoration of ellis island. Ellis island opened up in 1990. The is up there today torch is more like the original design. Solid copper lined with a thin layer of gold. When the statue was first completed and dedicated, the lighthouse was in control of the operation in 1886. Took02, the War Department over and in 1924, president Calvin Coolidge declared the statue of liberty a national monument. And in 1933, the statue of liberty was added to the National Park service to stop. And the National Park service has been the managing operation of the statue of liberty since then. I have worked at a lot of different parks. And our job here is easy. Our goal as interpreters is to connect to people to the resource. And i have worked at replica here and lighthouses, but the statue of liberty at ellis is easy. Rangers point at things. All you have to do is point at this wonderful work of art and it is an Emotional Experience of for a lot of people whether they have a personal connection, family that immigrated through ellis island or Something Like that. People connect to this place very easily. It can be very emotional because it is an amazing experience. In the early 1900s, for those overcrowded boat, when they sailed into the harbor and they saw the statue of liberty for them, she was an emblem for the pursuit of the american dream. They had made it to america. For folks today, they are here, they are either visiting or they live here. Feel,ill get that same that emotional she is still all inspiring. The best way to come is to make reservations in advance. Months in advance for a reservation to go to the crown. To visit theweeks top of the pedestal. In general, you will make it to Lower Manhattan, go through a screening process, board the boats and new york at battery park and also in new jersey at liberty state park. You will have a great experience of sailing in front of the statue. You can get off and enjoy the statue. When you leave from new york. And when you board the boat from the statue, your next stop will be ellis island which is also an incredible experience. You can spend a good halfday if not a whole day visiting these two Great National monuments. , for thet all up designer, it was his dream to become rich and famous. Unfortunately, neither of those happened for him. But if he were alive today, i think he would be very proud. Although he is not famous, his work of art certainly is. You can view this and all other american artifact programs on cspan. Org history. Select the american artifacts tab and browse recent programs. The schedule is also available on the right side of the page. This monday, on American History tv, a roundtable discussion with three caretakers of americas treasures. Davids gorton, library and of congress, and archivist of the United States. Here is a preview. Toughis going to be a question. You love all of your children either equally. But the single most amazing thing and your collection. I know i will be in trouble whatever i say. From milwaukee to los angeles about 18 months after the dodgers moved from brooklyn to los angeles. And my dad. That was the greatest thing. We used to go to shove his regime and watch him pitch. And my dad would say come and let us watch a lefthander strikeout a lot of guys. When i was shown the back room of the museum of American History, it brought tears into my eyes to see s mitt. I asked if i could hold it and they said yes and i asked if i could put my hand into it and they said no. That meant a lot to me to see that but i do love all of my children. It is really hard. Position wonderful that i have not found it yet. But so far, the contents of Abraham Lincolns pockets. Our cameras have been there to see that collection. The fact that they were found in a safe in the library ands office. I am still looking around for a treasure like that. Tell that story. The library and at the time, mr. Putnam discovered in the ceremonial office in this building, a safe. That no one knew the combination. Gentlemantricated a from a prison who was known to be handy at that type of thing. They had him calm and he opened it up. There was only one thing in the safe. It was a small battered fox that had been given to the library of congress by Abraham Lincolns granddaughter. A few articles he had clipped that were critical and a fews spectacles other things. A really resonated with me because Abraham Lincoln is very important and is buried in the same cemetery in springfield, illinois as my relatives. The landdition of lincoln. But i will find something else, i am sure. Day, a discovery that knocks my socks off. But if i had to choose one, i would choose three. The charters of freedom. The declaration, the constitution, and the bill of rights. You know the the british burned the town. The night before that happened, stephen pleasanton, a clerk in the state department, commandeered a wagon and took them into the hills of virginia and they are with us today because of that rescue. I would say the charters of freedom. You can watch the entire program on monday, 8 00 p. M. And 11 at 5 p. M. Eastern. This isamerican tea American History tv only on cspan3. Sunday, january 1, indepth will feature a live discussion on the presidency of barack obama. Calls,taking your phone tweets, emails, and facebook questions. Ryan,nel includes april author of the presidency in black and white. Princeton University Professor author of democracy in black. And david marinus. Noon indepth live from until 3 00 p. M. Eastern on sunday on book tv on cspan2. Next, a panel of historians ofcuss the influence american democracy after world war ii in a session called america democracies bashed in. Bastion. ; and it includes relief provided for displaced jewish refugees from poland. 1946 year zero, triumph and tragedy. Entitledession is america democracys bastion
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.