Liberty Enlightening the World

Introduction

Be it known that I, AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI, of Paris, in the Republic of France, having originated and produced a Design of a Monumental Statue, representing "Liberty enlightening the world," being intended as a commemorative monument of the independence of the United States....

The statue is that of a female figure standing erect upon a pedestal or block, the body being thrown slightly over to the left, so as to gravitate upon the left leg, the whole figure being thus in equalibrium, and symmetrically arranged with respect to a perpendicular line or axis passing through the head and left foot. The right leg, with its lower limb thrown back, is bent, resting upon the bent toe, thus giving grace to the general attitude of the figure. The body is dressed in the classical drapery, being a stola, or mantle gathered in upon the left shoulder and thrown over the skirt or tunic or under-garment, which drops in voluminous folds upon the feet. The right arm is thrown up and stretched out, with a flamboyant torch grasped in the hand. The flame of the torch is thus held high upon above the figure. The arm is nude; the drapery of the sleeve is dropping down upon the shoulder in voluminous folds. In the left arm, which is falling against the body, is held a tablet, upon which is inscribed "4th July 1776...."

Excerpt from: Patent application #11,023, dated February 18, 1879
A. Bartholdi

National History Standards

Materials compiled in this document can be used by educators to fulfill the following National History Standards for Grades K-4:

Topic 3: The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the Peoples from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic and Political Heritage

Standard 4: How Democratic Values Came to Be, and How They Have Been Exemplified by People, Events, and Symbols

Standard 4E: The student understands national symbols through which American values and principles are expressed.

K-4: Explain why important buildings, statues, and monuments are associated with state and national history, such as the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Angel Island, Mt. Rushmore, and veterans memorials. [Obtain historical data]

Materials compiled in this document can be used by educators to fulfill the following National History Standards for Grades 5-12:

Era 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)

STANDARD 2: Massive immigration after 1870 and how new social patterns, conflicts, and ideas of national unity developed amid growing cultural diversity.

Standard 2C: The student understands how new cultural movements at different social levels affected American life.

9-12: Analyze how the rise of public education and voluntary organizations promoted national unity and American values in an era of unprecedented immigration and socioeconomic change. [Examine the influence of ideas]

Primary Resources

DESCRIPTION: "Design for a Statue"
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: February 18, 1879
NOTES: Patent application by Bartholdi for the Statue of Liberty
REPOSITORY: U.S Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, DC
DESCRIPTION: Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, Manhattan, New York City, New York County, NY
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED:
COPYRIGHT: Rights and Reproductions
SOURCE: Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
DESCRIPTION: [Workmen constructing the Statue of Liberty in Bartholdi's Parisian warehouse workshop; first model; left hand; and quarter-size head--Winter 1882?]
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1882 or 1883]
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
DESCRIPTION: [Head of Statue of Liberty on display in park in Paris]
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1883]
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
DESCRIPTION: The great Bartholdi statue
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1884 Apr. 15.
REPRODUCTIONS: How to obtain copies of this item
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
DESCRIPTION: Pedestal for Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, New York Harbor [and insert of head and shoulder portrait of Bartholdi]
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, v. 29, (1885 June 6), p. 356.
REPRODUCTIONS: How to obtain copies of this item
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
DESCRIPTION: New York - arrival of the French transport steamer Isere with the Bartholdi statue on board, at the base of the pedestal, Bedloe's Island, Friday, June 19th - the salute of welcome by the fleet
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Illus. in: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 60 (1885 June 27), p. 297.
REPRODUCTIONS: How to obtain copies of this item
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
DESCRIPTION: New York - Transferring the cases containing the Bartholdi statue from the hold of the ISERE to lighters, for removal to Bedloe's Island
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Illus. in: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1885 July 4.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
DESCRIPTION: Statue of Liberty
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1898
SUMMARY FROM American Memory: A three-quarter front view of the Statue of Liberty. The statue was erected twelve years earlier, in 1886.
PLAYBACK: Information about Video Playback
REPRODUCTIONS: How to Order Copies of Films
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
SOURCE: Inventing Entertainment: the Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C.
DESCRIPTION: Bartholde's [Bartholdi's] Statue of Liberty
PHOTOGRAPHER: William Henry Jackson
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1892
REPRODUCTIONS: How to Order Photographic Reproductions
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
SOURCE: Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
DESCRIPTION: [Pages 1 and 2 of The Evening Sun, 29 September 1909] (includes Liberty Statue Encircled by Wright in Aeroplane)
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: September 29, 1909
REPRODUCTIONS: How to Order Reproductions
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
SOURCE: The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
DESCRIPTION: A Chinese View of the Statue of Liberty.
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: In [The American missionary. / Volume 39, Issue 10, Oct 1885]
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
SOURCE: The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals
REPOSITORY: Cornell University
DESCRIPTION: Postponing Bartholdi's Statue Until There is Liberty for Colored as Well [from newspaper]
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Cleveland Gazette 04, no. 15 (11/27/1886): 02
REPRODUCTIONS: How to Order Reproductions
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
SOURCE: The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920
REPOSITORY: Ohio Historical Center Archives Library
DESCRIPTION: Libertad
ARTIST: Ester Hernandez
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: c[19]76.
SUMMARY FROM American Memory: Print shows a woman sculptor carving the Statue of Liberty (labeled Aztlan) into shapes and motifs typical of indigenous Mexican culture, as a demonstration of resistance to assimilation.
REPRODUCTIONS: How to Obtain Reproductions
COPYRIGHT: Copyright and Other Restrictions
SOURCE: American Women: A Gateway to Library of Congress Resources for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

See also:

Additional Instructional Resources

Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. From National Park Service Teacher's Corner.

The Statue of Liberty: The Meaning and Use of a National Symbol

Sighting the Statue of Liberty

Symbols of America. From DiscoverySchool.com

One Great American Lady: A Heritage Welcome to the USA

Secondary Resources

"The Statue of Liberty." Manufacturer and Builder (September 1876).

"The Statue of Liberty." Manufacturer and Builder (November 1876).

"The Great Statue of Liberty and the Pedestal Fund." Manufacturer and Builder (June 1885).

Associated Heritage and Preservation Organizations

Statue of Liberty National Monument
Liberty Island
New York, NY 10004

Copyright and Other Restrictions

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Credits

Teaching American History in Maryland is a collaborative partnership of the Maryland State Archives and the Center for History Education (CHE), University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), and the following sponsoring school systems: Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Baltimore City Public School System, Baltimore County Public Schools, and Howard County Public Schools.

Other program partners include the Martha Ross Center for Oral History, Maryland Historical Society, State Library Resource Center/Enoch Pratt Free Library, with assistance from the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. The program is funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

This document packet was researched and developed by Nancy Bramucci.

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