Re: Bush to Lady Liberty: Starve

[Jurriaan Bendien <bendien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In case you forgot, the Statue of Liberty was originally a gift from the
people of France, to symbolize the participation of France in the American
War of Independence, and the perpetual friendship of the two nations based
on shared ideals. France raised most of the money for, and constructed the
statue itself from 1875-1884. Contributions came in from ordinary citizens,
deputies, cabinet officers, and the old President of the Republic, Marie
Edme Patrice Maurice MacMahon. The City of Paris gave $2000. No contribution
was asked or received from the French Government. The pedestal however was
designed by Richard Morris Hunter, and built with funds provided by
Americans, Pulitzer being the main fundraiser. The poet Emma Lazarus wrote
the ode to the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" emblazoned on the
statue's pedestal. The sculptor was Auguste Bartholdi, and the engineer
Gustave Eiffel. In his acceptance speech on October 28, 1886, President
Cleveland stated: "We will not forget that liberty here made her home; nor
shall her chosen altar be neglected". The 7 spikes in the Crown represented
the seven continents and oceans of the earth. Bartholdi chose the site, a
small island about a mile and a half southwest of the tip of Manhattan.
Before 1664, when the city was called New Amsterdam, the island was owned by
one Isaack Bedloo, from Calais, France. Its later names included Love Island
(after Governor Lovelace), Oyster, Kennedy's, and Liberty Island.

J.