Face of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty has stood in New York Harbor since 1886, and The Times was there the day it was unveiled. The Times front page on Oct. 29, 1886 declared, “France’s Gift Accepted; Liberty’s Statue Unveiled on Bedlow’s Island; A Great Holiday to be Remembered in This City.”

France gave Lady Liberty to the United States to celebrate the two nations’ lasting friendship and commitment to the principles of liberty. The statue was the result of a collaboration between French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who created the statue itself out of sheets of hammered copper, and designer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who also presented his eponymous tower at the 1889 World’s Fair. Lady Liberty greeted millions of immigrants who arrived in America via nearby Ellis Island and she remains an enduring and iconic symbol of freedom and democracy.