Independence Day & the Statue of Liberty

Date Posted: Tuesday, July 4, 2023

4th of July U.S. Census Bureau "Facts for Features"

Statue of Liberty
The statue's original name was Liberty Enlightening the World. The statue was given to the United States by the French as a centennial gift in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the July 4, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. The statue arrived in 1885 and in 1886 it was dedicated, ten years after the anniversary.

What does the Statue of Liberty represent? She is a symbol of the ideals of friendship between nations, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and new beginnings for peoples around the world.

Emma Lazarus wrote the famous 1883 sonnet which since the early 1900s, is on a bronze plaque in the statue's pedestal.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Read the full article at: WomenVetsUSA Observances