The U.S. President Grover Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Bay, marking the arrival of one of the most enduring symbols of freedom and democracy.
A Gift from France
The statue was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, celebrating the two nations’ friendship and shared ideals of liberty.
Design and Construction
French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the colossal figure, while Gustave Eiffel—famed for the Eiffel Tower—engineered the internal iron framework. Built in France, the statue was completed, disassembled, shipped across the Atlantic, and reassembled on its pedestal in New York Harbor.
Dedication Ceremony
On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland presided over the official dedication ceremony, declaring the statue “enlightening the world.”
Symbolism
Originally conceived to commemorate the abolition of slavery, the Statue of Liberty has since become a universal emblem of hope and welcome, especially for millions of immigrants arriving in America.
Emma Lazarus’s Poem
In 1903, a bronze plaque was added to the pedestal featuring Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus”, which immortalized the statue as a beacon to newcomers with its famous lines:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”