Synopsis
It is the symbol of freedom the world over... a "Modern Colossus" to represent America and its values to the world. Oddly enough, the Statue of Liberty was a French invention. Artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi first presented the idea at a dinner party in Versailles in 1865 after seeing the Pyramids and Sphinx of Egypt. He asked, "Isn't it time for 19th century people to leave behind their own great lasting legacy?"

Bartholdi's vision was a statue he called "Liberty Enlightening the World," a grand gift from the French to the Americans on the occasion of the first centennial of America's birth.

Bartholdi's chief collaborator was Gustave Eiffel, who convinced Bartholdi that the statue needed to be light and flexible so that it could sway in the wind and survive in the elements. They decided that the statue would be built of copper, hand-hammered over wooden molds. Over 300 of these copper plates were seamlessly interlocked to create the "skin" of the statue, each one independently attached to an internal steel framework. They overlap and can expand and contract - and over 100 years later, Eiffel's brilliant solution allows the Statue to withstand the rough weather in New York's harbour. The grand unveiling took place in 1886.

Today, an army of workers continues to maintain the Statue of Liberty - polishing, painting and repairing - to make sure that the light of Liberty still shines and that the statue itself remains an eternal monument to freedom.


Prizes and Awards
Not specified