Enlightening the World
Celebrating 140 Years of the Statue of Liberty
By Jennifer Larson
Statue of Liberty and New York City Skyline. Photo by Oleg Albinsky, iStock
A Symbol of Liberty for one and all
The Statue of Liberty has long captured the public’s imagination. She’s been featured in popular films and on sports logos, music album covers, and Andy Warhol silkscreen paintings, as well as on textbook covers, commemorative coins, and postage stamps.
This year, Lady Liberty’s celebrating a major birthday: 2026 marks the 140th anniversary of this iconic and timeless symbol of the nation.
“This symbol of liberty just transcends the years,” said Patrice Birner, National Vice Chair of the Commemorative Events Committee, who is overseeing the National Society’s commemoration of the anniversary.
The words of poet Emma Lazarus—emblazoned in 1903 on a plaque on the statue’s pedestal—still ring with passion:
“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!”
As the 140th anniversary year unfolds, take some time to learn more about the origins of the Statue of Liberty and what she continues to represent today.
The statue wasn’t merely a work of art. It was also a remarkable feat of engineering. Before designing the famous tower that bears his name, now a symbol of Paris, engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel worked with Frédéric Bartholdi to design the statue’s framework. Eiffel created a massive and intricate internal structure of iron draped in a thin skin of copper.
The Bartholdi Statue of Liberty drawn by John Durkin, 1884, depicting the construction of the Statue of Liberty, showing the statue in scaffolding, the scale of a man with the flame and the foot, and a portrait of Frédéric Bartholdi. Durkin, J. Periodical illustration/wood engraving. Photograph from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/95501958/.
A history of cooperation
It’s impossible today to imagine a New York City without the Statue of Liberty serenely gazing over the skyline from her spot on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
But her silent reign began in 1865 with the vision of one man: the French politician, businessman, and abolitionist Edouard de Laboulaye, who had been a supporter of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
De Laboulaye envisioned a gift from the French people to the American people to honor their friendship and celebrate their joint ideals of democracy and freedom. He called upon his friend, the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, to design a colossal statue that would eventually be named Liberty Enlightening the World.
Bartholdi originally hoped for Lady Liberty to hold broken chains in her hand to symbolize the abolition of slavery. Eventually, he chose to depict her holding a tablet featuring the letters “JULY IV MDCCLXXVI” to signify the date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence—but he left the broken chains and shackles at her feet to symbolize the end of oppression.
The statue wasn’t merely a work of art. It was also a remarkable feat of engineering. Before designing the famous tower that bears his name, now a symbol of Paris, engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel worked with Bartholdi to design the statue’s framework. Eiffel created a massive and intricate internal structure of iron draped in a thin skin of copper.
Workmen constructing the Statue of Liberty, hammering copper, with Lady Liberty's left hand and head in background, at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop in Paris, 1883. Pierre Petit Photograph from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/97502750/.
Construction of the skeleton and plaster surface of the left arm and hand of the Statue of Liberty, at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop in Paris, 1883. Pierre Petit Photograph from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2020634757/.
Head of the Statue of Liberty on display at Champ-de-Mars, Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1883. Photograph from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/97502744/.
Statue of Liberty photochrom print, New York Harbor, ca. 1905. Detroit Photographic Co. Photograph from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2008679689/.
A Celebrated Symbol of the United States
Voyage - New York - Europe 2; Passing the Statue of Liberty. New York, NY, 1898. American Souvenir Card Co Postcard Photograph from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2025672119/.
It was also the result of years of cooperative fundraising. The French people raised money for years to pay for the statue itself, while across the Atlantic, Americans raised funds to pay for the pedestal, which was eventually designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt.
Newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer used his newspaper, the New York World, to urge American citizens to donate money to the cause. In an 1885 column, he wrote: “Let us not wait for the millionaires to give us this money. It is not a gift from the millionaires of France to the millionaires of America, but a gift of the whole people of France to the whole people of America.”
Americans responded enthusiastically, sending in donations of more than $100,000 and seeing their names printed in the paper afterward.
“It really was a gift of the French citizens to the American citizens,” Birner said. “It wasn’t from one government to another government. That’s what I love about its history.”
The statue was completed in France in 1884. Nearly 20 years after Edouard de Laboulaye’s inspiration, France formally presented the Statue of Liberty to the U.S. in Paris on July 4, 1884. Levi P. Morton, the U.S. minister to France, accepted the gift on behalf of the American people.
The next challenge was moving the statue to New York, a task well beyond the typical luggage-packing required for a transatlantic voyage. The statue was disassembled into 350 pieces, which were packed into 214 crates and loaded onto a ship. Eventually the statue was reassembled in its new home after completion of the pedestal.
After a naval parade and military show, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the statue on October 28, 1886, and Lady Liberty, her torch held high, became an indelible symbol of hope and freedom—one that’s relevant today, too.
“She’s always been meaningful and inspiring,” Birner said. “And we need her more than ever, now.”
Aerial panoramic view of Lower Manhattan, New York City, New Jersey City Downtown, and Statue of Liberty, 2022. iStock
Ideas for celebrating the anniversary
Although her original torch was altered numerous times before ultimately being removed in 1984 and replaced with a replica, the Statue of Liberty has remained a beacon of light and hope to immigrants arriving in the United States—and to people who have lived here their entire lives.
One particularly fitting way to honor the anniversary is to see the Statue of Liberty in person. From the bottom of the pedestal to the top of the torch, the statue reaches 305 feet into the air. If you’re not afraid of heights, you can climb the 162-step spiral staircase to marvel over the view from an observation deck in the crown.
“It’s well worth a visit,” Birner said. “Plus, the museum has been upgraded, and you can see the replacement torch.”
The DAR Commemorative Events Committee has compiled a list of other ways to commemorate France’s gift to the United States. Suggested activities include:
- Watching Ken Burns’ American Stories: The Statue of Liberty (1985)
- Presenting a Statue of Liberty program during a chapter meeting or to a local community group
- Reading Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s 1885 book, The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, or other books that explore the statue’s creation, meaning, and history
- Donating books about the Statue of Liberty to local libraries and schools
- Celebrating a “Liberty Love Day” to revisit the 1984–1986 Centennial Restoration of the statue, including the DAR’s participation and support
- Learning more about the life and work of poet Emma Lazarus, as well as the history of her poem “The New Colossus” and its meaning to the immigrant experience
Parallel Pillars to DAR
Birner noted that sharing the story of the Statue of Liberty promotes all three pillars of the DAR mission: historic preservation, education, and patriotism. DAR members can honor their Patriot ancestors by making sure that her story remains vivid.
“She can serve as a reminder not to take our liberty for granted,” Birner said. P
The original torch from the Statue of Liberty in use from 1916 to 1984, now on display at Liberty Island Museum.
New York City, New York, June 2, 2026; photo by Cynthia Shirk, iStock.
Fast Facts About the Statue of Liberty
Statue Of Liberty Museum on its opening day on Liberty Island, NY, May 16, 2019. Photo by Maria Kray, iStock.
- The Statue of Liberty was designated a National Monument in 1924.
- The French translation of the Statue of Liberty’s official name is “La Liberté éclairant le monde.”
- The statue’s current torch is actually a replica installed in 1985. The original gold and copper torch, which weighs 3,600 pounds, is on display in the Statue of Liberty Museum.
- The statue contains 31 tons of copper and 125 tons of steel. The copper sheeting is 3/32 of an inch thick, which is less than two pennies thick, according to Patrice Birner, National Vice Chair, Commemorative Events Committee, 140th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty
- About 3.8 million people visit the Statue of Liberty each year.
September/October 2026
