9 Secrets of the Statue of Liberty Most People Don't Know

The Statue of Liberty is undoubtedly one of the most famous monuments in the world. However, not everyone knows that she has her secrets.

1. It is fascinating to note that the statue arrived in over 300 copper pieces from France on June 17, 1885, traveling in 214 crates on the French Ship Isère. However, the iconic arm holding the torch wasn't there. It stood in Madison Square Park for six years to raise money to sponsor the pedestal.

The arrival of the statue attracted 200,000 people who came to welcome it to the US. The official dedication ceremony took place on October 28, 1886, with President Grover Cleveland presiding over it. Despite being split into pieces and having to wait for almost six years to be completed, the Statue of Liberty has become one of the most cherished symbols of freedom and democracy worldwide.

2. It is interesting to note that the Statue of Liberty was one of the earliest crowd-funding campaigns in history. The French sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, raised funds in his country to build the statue, and it was not sponsored by the local government. Bartholdi offered the statue as a gift to the US, on the condition that they build a pedestal for it. However, the federal government was not in favor of the idea, and the statue's status was unclear for a few years.

To solve this problem, American newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer stepped in and initiated one of the earliest massive crowd-funding campaigns. He promised every contributor an honorary shout-out in his newspapers, and even though 80% of the donations were small ones from middle-class citizens, Pulitzer collected the required funds from over 120,000 donors.

Notably, "The New Colossus," the famous sonnet that can still be found on a bronze plaque inside the Statue, was also part of the fund-raising campaign. The Statue of Liberty stands today as a testament to the power of the people's contributions towards a common goal.

3. The Statue of Liberty wasn't always green. Being made of copper, the statue was initially the same color as a penny. According to the New York Historical Society, it turned completely green due to oxidation by 1920.

There was a time when the statue had two colors- half brown and half green. However, the green coating, which is actually a layer of patina that formed due to chemical reactions between copper and the environment, survived the restoration of the statue. Since then, the patina has been a defining characteristic of Lady Liberty, and it is unlikely that it will ever disappear. The green color is now considered to be an iconic symbol of the statue and is a testament to the statue's longevity and resilience.

4. The Statue of Liberty was initially intended to serve as a lighthouse for ships sailing into New York Harbor. Two years after its arrival in the US, it became one, and for 16 years, the statue's lamp served as a beacon for sailors.

However, the lamp wasn't bright enough, and Bartholdi ran out of ideas to make it brighter. Thus, he suggested gold-plating the entire statue to enhance its brightness. Congress rejected this proposal because it would have been prohibitively expensive. Today, the torch carries a flame, but it is purely symbolic, and the statue no longer functions as a lighthouse.

5. The number 7 holds great significance in the design of the Statue of Liberty. The seven spikes on the crown of Lady Liberty represent universal liberty across the seven seas and continents.

Another reference to the number 7 can be observed in the statue's head, which has 25 windows. If one adds up the digits of 25, it results in the number seven.

The number 7 is also evident in the design of the torch, which has 16 leaves. When one adds up the digits of 16 (1+6) it equates to 7. Additionally, the height of the monument is 151 feet, and when one adds up the digits of 151, the result is also 7.

Clearly, the number 7 had significant meaning for the statue's creators, and they incorporated it into the design in various ways.

6. Gustave Eiffel, the famous engineer who created the Eiffel Tower in Paris, was involved in the design of the steel internal framework supporting the Statue of Liberty. The framework was necessary to keep the statue stable in the strong winds of New York Harbor.

The framework inside the statue is strong enough to withstand around 600 bolts of lightning per year, and it allows the statue to sway a few inches in the wind. Visitors to the monument can climb up 354 steps to the crown, which offers a stunning view. However, the torch is not accessible to visitors.

7. Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, was a freemason who represented the French Grand Orient Temple Masons. It is believed that his interest in Egypt may have inspired him to design the statue to symbolize "the Orient showing the way." The torch Lady Liberty is holding is an important symbol in Masonic culture known as the "Torch of Enlightenment" or the "Flaming Torch of Reason," which could explain why Bartholdi included it in the statue's design.

Moreover, the masons did participate in the cornerstone laying ceremony in 1884, and the grand master, William A. Brodie, presided over it in the company of grand lodge members. While these events may indicate some Masonic influence in the history of the Statue of Liberty, it's important to note that there is no concrete evidence to support these speculations.

8. It's true that there are some theories suggesting that the face of the Statue of Liberty might be that of a man instead of a representation of the Roman goddess of freedom, Libertas. The widely accepted story is that Bartholdi modeled her face after his mother, and there is no concrete evidence to suggest otherwise.

However, some researchers like Elizabeth Mitchell claim that Bartholdi actually used his brother's face as a model for the statue instead of his mother's. She pointed out some differences between the facial features of Bartholdi's mother and the statue, such as the eyebrow shape, nose, lips, and mouth. Nevertheless, this theory remains speculative, and there is no conclusive evidence to support it.

Another theory suggests that Lady Liberty's face was modeled after the ancestor of French writer Nathalie Salmon, Sarah Salmon, whom Bartholdi found particularly beautiful. According to Salmon, she and her husband visited the sculptor at his studio in Paris in 1875, and he could have used that opportunity to draw Sarah and later used those images as a model. However, there is no concrete evidence to support this theory either.

9. The Statue of Liberty has several versions located around the world. A smaller model, which served as a design prototype, was given by Bartholdi to the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris in 1906, where it has been displayed at Luxembourg museum since the World's Fair of 1900. There is also another version of the monument located on an island in the Seine River, erected to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution in 1889. This statue displays two dates, representing the friendship between two nations and the significance of revolutions. Additionally, a life-size copy of the torch is situated on the Pont de l'Alma in Paris, symbolizing Franco-American relations and installed on the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. Furthermore, various public and modern art projects have taken inspiration from the Statue of Liberty, and numerous replicas can be found globally, including one in Times Square, welcoming visitors to a toy store.